


Beneath the Willows

by poetatertot



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Growing Pains, Growing Up Together, M/M, Mild Angst, Multi, Now with a beach episode!, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2020-06-27 02:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19781131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetatertot/pseuds/poetatertot
Summary: Naruto had heard of neighborhoods like this, where shiny mailboxes lined the streets, and the houses gleamed like candy. Where the cars weren’t rusty, and the sidewalks were smooth. Where the world smelled like freshly-cut grass and cold iced tea.He’d dreamed of it, and now it washis.Or, Naruto's trials and tribulations of growing up in the Hidden Leaves neighborhood.





	1. A New Friend

Everything began beneath the willow.  
  


The tree was _huge,_ a swampy-looking monster shading the entire front lawn. Tendrils shivered in the breeze, blanketing the home like a moving curtain. It hypnotized him.  
  


“Naruto?” Iruka called from the porch. “Don’t you want to see your room?”  
  


Naruto froze, caught. He swung his head from the willow to the house next-door— a squat, orange bungalow. It kinda looked like a pumpkin.   
  


Iruka waved from the doorway. “Come on in!”  
  


“Coming!” he shouted. He slammed the car door and ran up the sidewalk. The willow’s whispering leaves sang in his ears the whole way up the street, through the front door, into his new home.  
  


His room was _huge._ There was enough space for him to starfish between his bed and his desk, and Iruka said he could paint the walls any color he wanted. Naruto, with his matching bedspread and lampshade and half the clothes in his closet, already knew _exactly_ what color everything was going to be.  
  


And the window—big and shiny, like the ones from the movies. Their yard was pretty small, but on the other side of the fence Naruto could tell the neighbors had a _huge_ lawn. With a _treehouse._ Maybe they wouldn’t mind if he asked to play in it?  
  


Unless it already belonged to someone else?  
  


Naruto skipped down the sidewalk. The afternoon heat prickled at his neck, flushing his arms and cheeks pink. The birds and trees swayed with a faint breeze, barely a breath to keep him cool. July was _hot._  
  


He’d almost made it back to the car when it caught his eye again.  
  


There—a shape tucked between gnarled roots. Naruto held his breath and stepped closer. The willow’s leaves stretched for him; he followed, eyes glued to the shadow in the grass.  
  


Iruka always told him not to play on people’s lawns unless they said he could. Naruto’s eyes flicked to the house’s front windows, big and shuttered in white. There wasn’t any movement inside. He crept closer.  
  


Pale skin, a rumpled blue shirt. Dark hair falling into eyes wildly, as if in need of a haircut. Fingers curled around a book’s spine where it splayed across a lap.  
  


A _boy._  
  


Naruto froze. The boy didn’t move. Naruto watched his shirt rise and fall with slow, steady breaths. A piece of hair moved with every exhale, floating off parted lips.  
  


He was asleep.  
  


He also had to be Naruto’s age. He looked like the boys at the old home, before Iruka, but paler and smooth in a way their torn knees and dusty shorts hadn’t ever been. Naruto was immediately entranced.  
  


His eyes trailed to the book again. _Summer of the Sea Serpent._ The letters gleamed gold where they caught the light.  
  


When he looked up again, he almost jumped. Dark eyes stared into his blue ones, wide and assessing. He’d woken without a sound.  
  


Naruto licked his lips.  
  


“You’re not Itachi.” The boy frowned, brows pulling down. “Who _are_ you?”  
  


“I—” Naruto swallowed. He forced his bravado, puffing out his chest. “I’m Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki.”  
  


The boy sat up straight and pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Uzu—” He paused, gaze flitting to the orange house beyond the picket fence. “Wait. Are you—”   
  


“Sasuke! Lunch is ready!”  
  


Naruto whipped around. A woman with long, black hair stood at the front porch, an apron tied at the waist. She took in the both of them and smiled, stepping forward.  
  


“Sasuke, who’s this? A new friend of yours?”  
  


“No,” Sasuke said brusquely. His frown softened at the sight of her— _his mom_ , Naruto realized—and he got to his feet. Naruto could see grass stains all over his shorts, and somehow the sight satisfied him. Not so clean after all, then.  
  


“Sorry honey,” Sasuke’s mom was saying. “Sasuke has to come in for lunch, but maybe afterwards you two can play?”   
  


“Okay,” Naruto said, just as Sasuke repeated “Mom, he’s _not_ my friend.”  
  


“No?” She smiled. “Then who are you? The new neighbor?”  
  


Naruto nodded, feeling himself flush harder. She was _pretty._ “Yeah,” he said. “I’m Naruto. We moved into the orange house.”  
  


“I’m Mikoto,” Sasuke’s mom said. “The orange house, hmm? How lovely. You’ll be right next door, then.”  
  


“Yeah!”  
  


She smiled even brighter. “Isn’t that great news, Sasuke? A new friend for you to play with!”  
  


Sasuke ignored both of them. Naruto watched him fold a page down and snap the book shut. He was blushing all of a sudden, pink in the face and scowling. “Where’s Itachi?”  
  


“Practicing piano,” Mikoto said. “Don’t go to him just yet, though. Your lunch is on the table.”  
  


Sasuke pouted. “Fine.” His eyes flicked from his mom to Naruto. “..See you.”  
  


“See you,” Naruto echoed. He forced himself back to the sidewalk, out into the sunlight again, as Sasuke followed his mom inside.  
  


Naruto bit his lip. He felt warm all over.  
  


_A new friend._


	2. The Vase In The Window

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Sasuke may be six now, but they won't be forever. The next decade or so of their lives is already mapped out (with a few timeskips in between) so the baby talk won't last!

Naruto had hit the jackpot.  
  


He’d heard of neighborhoods like this, where shiny mailboxes lined the streets and the houses gleamed like candy. Where the cars weren’t rusty, and the sidewalks were smooth. Where the world smelled like freshly-cut grass and cold iced tea.  
  


He’d dreamed of it, and now it was _his._  
  


“I heard other kids in the neighborhood, yesterday,” Iruka said. He peeled an orange in a single, fluid motion, setting it on Naruto’s plate. “Seems like we’ve struck it big, haven’t we?”  
  


“Yeah,” Naruto beamed. He pressed his face to the cool kitchen table, savoring the chill. “This is the _best._ ”  
  


There was Shika, and Choji, and Ino, and Kiba with all his dogs, and _Sasuke—_  
  


Sasuke had never come back out after lunch, but it was okay. The second Naruto had left his new house again, he’d ran smack into another kid. With a _puppy._  
  


Kiba dragged him on his walk, and then everything—every _one_ — had snowballed together. Naruto had met so many people in the last afternoon that he could barely count them all. And he didn’t have to share a bathroom with _any of them._  
  


Naruto smiled helplessly. He really _was_ living a dream.  
  


“What are you going to do today?” Iruka asked. He flipped a piece of french toast onto a plate, steaming hot. “Are you going back out again?”  
  


Naruto nodded. “Choji has a _pool,_ ” he said seriously.   
  


“And where does Choji live? Just so I know where to find you.” Iruka slid the plate to him. “You know what happens if I don’t always know.”  
  


“I know, I know.” Naruto still had a scar from back then. But hey, that old fence had attacked _him!_ “He’s down the street, in the big red house.”  
  


“The red one, huh.” Iruka nodded. “Alright. Don’t leave without showing me you put on your sunscreen.”  
  


Naruto crammed half his toast in his mouth so he wouldn’t have to answer.  
  


The doorbell rang just past noon. Naruto scrambled from the bathroom, pulling his swim shorts up. He hoped the others didn’t make fun of the frogs; they were his _favorite pair_ , and he was proud of them.  
  


“I’ve been waiting _forever,_ ” he complained, swinging the door open. “You—” His mouth popped open. “You!”  
  


“Me,” Sasuke echoed warily. Naruto could barely see his frown behind the giant basket in his arms.   
  


“What are _you_ doing here?” Naruto demanded.  
  


Sasuke stiffened. “What are _you_ doing here?!”   
  


“I live here!”  
  


The boy lifted his nose. “ _Obviously._ ”  
  


“Whaddya want?” Naruto asked, suspicious. His eyes moved to the basket. Something smelled _good._ “What’s in the basket?”  
  


“None of your business.” Sasuke scowled, ducking his head. “..It’s from mom.”  
  


Naruto chewed his lip. What did he do with something like this? He’d never received a gift from a _mom_ before. Were they like the gifts the old ladies had brought to the home? Or something like Iruka’s?  
  


“Naruto, what did I say?” Iruka’s footsteps echoed behind them. “You can’t leave until—” He stopped, eyebrows raising. “Oh, who’s this?”  
  


“Nobody,” Naruto said, right as Sasuke introduced himself. They glared at each other.  
  


“Uchiha, huh?” Iruka smiled. “That’s the name on the mailbox next door, right? You must be their son! Is that for us?”  
  


“Yes sir,” Sasuke said. Of course _now_ he’d choose to be polite. Naruto gritted his teeth. “My mom made them. As a welcome gift.”  
  


“A welcome gift,” Iruka echoed, nodding. He took the basket easily, cracking open the top. Instantly, the rich smell of baked bread wafted out. Naruto sucked in a deep breath. His mouth was already watering.  
  


“They’re blueberry,” Sasuke pointed out. “Um. She hopes that’s okay.”  
  


“Blueberry is perfect.” Iruka balanced the basket on one hip. “So are you in the first grade too, Sasuke? How old are you?”  
  


“Six,” Sasuke said. His eyes flicked to Naruto and he straightened a little. “But I’ll be seven on the twenty-third."  
  
  
“Seven!” Iruka exclaimed. “That means you’re the same age as Naruto. You’re going into second grade, too, then?”  
  


“Yes sir.” Sasuke bobbed his head. “At Leaf Academy.”  
  


Naruto perked up. He’d heard about that school from Iruka—it was where he was supposed to go in September. And the other kids had talked about it, too. Did that mean..?  
  


“Naruto, too,” Iruka told him. “You two might even be in the same class! How lucky!”  
  


They shared a glance.  
  


“Say, Naruto.” Iruka jerked his head to his swim shorts, neon orange and frog-patterned. “Why don’t you take Sasuke with you to swim? Would that be okay with your mom, Sasuke?”  
  


“Maybe,” Sasuke said. The way he squirmed made Naruto think it would be _yes._ “I’d have to ask her.”  
  


“How about this.” Iruka set down the basket by the shoe rack. “I’ll get Naruto all sunscreened up, and you go ask her, okay? We’ll wait right here for you.”  
  


“Okay.” Sasuke bit his lip, eyes flicking from Iruka to Naruto and back again. His brow pushed down again; he was thinking about something. “I’ll ask.”  
  


 _“Iruka!”_ Naruto hissed, turning the second he left. “Why’d you do that?”  
  


“What?” Iruka blinked innocently. “Is something wrong with Sasuke?”  
  


“Well, no, but—” Naruto frowned, nose wrinkling. “He’s all—I don’t know if he even wants to come!”  
  


Iruka hummed. “I don’t know about that. How about we wait and see what he says? If he doesn’t want to come, then he won’t.”  
  


Easier said than done. _Nobody_ could deny Iruka when he put his mind to something. Naruto sighed loudly to get his point across and held out his hand. “Alright, whatever. Where’s the sunscreen?”  
  


Iruka raised an eyebrow. Naruto flushed.  
  


“Please?” he tacked on hastily.  
  


He was just rubbing a handful over his face—”Don’t forget the underside of your nose,” Iruka reminded him—when Sasuke appeared again. He looked a little pink already, chest heaving like he’d ran there. He was also wearing blue swim trunks with tomatoes on them.  
  


Naruto laughed without thinking and almost ate sunscreen. “Tomatoes? Who bought those for you, your _mom?”_  
  


Sasuke turned an impressive shade of red. “What, like you’re any better? Frog-butt!”  
  


“I picked these out _all by myself,_ ” Naruto snapped. “From _Target._ Iruka said I could!”  
  


“Alright, alright.” Iruka huffed a laugh. “Shouldn’t you two be going? That’s a friend of yours coming up the street, isn’t it?”  
  


It _was._ “Kiba!” Naruto shouted, aiming right for Sasuke’s ear. The other boy hissed, arm shooting out to jab him in the gut. He went down with a wheeze.  
  


“Don’t forget your towel,” Iruka reminded him. It was bright orange and covered in smiling suns—another Target pick Naruto had been allowed to make. He _matched._  
  


“Sorry I’m late!” Kiba jogged up to the porch. “Mom said I couldn’t leave until I walked Akamaru. I had to _scoop his poop_.”  
  


“Gross!” Naruto hooted gleefully. “Okay Iruka, we’re leaving! Bye!”  
  


The blacktop gave off squiggly waves as they made their way down the street. Naruto tipped his head back, soaking in the soft _shh_ of the trees and the brightly chirping birds. Far overhead, a crow cawed and soared towards the full, blinding sun.  
  


“Hey, Naruto,” Kiba said. “Iruka’s your dad, right?”  
  


“Yeah.” Naruto crossed his arms over his head. Already he could feel sweat building under his armpits—another hot day come to pass. “He got me from the home."  
  
  
“The home,” Kiba echoed. He cocked his head, lost in thought. “Like, he randomly picked you up one day?”  
  


“Like you’re adopted,” Sasuke said quietly.  
  


Naruto looked over at him. Sasuke wouldn’t look back, but stared blank-faced up at the sky instead. He was thinking again. He did a lot of that, didn’t he?  
  


“Yeah,” he agreed, softly. “I am.”  
  


A flock of sparrows chirped from a nearby oak. They passed a house with an old man hosing down his car, sending glittering rivulets into the driveway. Naruto flip-flopped through the stream and savored the slick between his toes.  
  


“Okay,” Kiba said. “Cool.” And that was that.  
  


They’d almost made it to the red house when Kiba spoke again. He’d come to a stop next to a crisp white mailbox painted with pink flowers. The white house beyond it had the same ones—a matching vase sitting on a sill. Petals shivered in the breeze.  
  


“Hold on,” he said. “Ino said I had to get Sakura, too.”  
  


“Sakura?” Naruto echoed. He eyed the flowers as they walked up the path. They were impossibly pink, almost bright enough to hurt his eyes. “Who’s that?”  
  


“You’ll see.”  
  


Kiba rang the doorbell. They waited in silence for what felt like forever. A car passed down the street with a low hum. Sasuke toed at a crack in the cement.  
  


Then, finally, the door opened.   
  


_Oh,_ Naruto thought, fascinated. _Pink._  
  


And she really was—pink-haired, pink sandals, pink towel. The only thing that wasn’t pink was her red bathing suit.   
  


“Be back by dinner!” Someone yelled from inside the house. Sakura leaned back, shouted an _“Okay!”_ and slammed the door shut.   
  


They looked at each other.  
  


“Sasuke?” Her eyebrows raised. “But you never come out and play with us. You’re always _busy."_  
  


Sasuke flushed, kicking at the ground. “Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “This guy made me.”  
  


Sakura’s eyes flicked to Naruto. Instantly, he felt himself itch under her gaze. She was real close, looking him up and down with her eyebrow still cocked. She had the greenest eyes he’d ever seen.  
  


“I’m Naruto!” he blurted. “From the orange house! I just moved in!”  
  


“The orange house?” Her face lit up. “Oh, yeah! I’m Sakura.”  
  


“Right, I knew that,” he said. He paused, squinting. Her hair was almost as bright as the vase in the window. “How’d you get your hair like that?”  
  


Kiba sucked in a breath. Sakura’s smile froze, one eye squinching up. “Like what?” she asked. “Is there something wrong with it?”  
  


“Er, no, you’re just. It hurts to look at you, and—”  
  


“Oh, _okay,_ I see how it is!” Her nose wrinkled up. The towel in her fist twisted into a ball. “Kiba, did _you_ tell him to say this?”  
  


“No,” Kiba said. He looked a little embarrassed. “No, I—”  
  


“Mind your own business then, _Naruto,_ ” Sakura snapped. She paused, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Where’s Ino?”  
  


“Already there,” Kiba said, eyeing her warily. “She wanted me to get you.”  
  


“Great,” Sakura sniffed. “Let’s go.” She shoved past Naruto, knocking him halfway into a bush. Kiba and Sasuke looked down at him, mouths pressed thin.  
  


“What?” Naruto demanded. “Was it something I said?”

* * *

Choji’s pool was _amazing._  
  


“Seriously,” Naruto repeated for the fifth time. “It’s so _big._ And a _slide?_ ”  
  


“Mom says we gotta be careful with it,” Choji said. He jammed a thumb towards the sliding glass. “She’s making snacks, and then she says she’s gonna watch us.”  
  


Naruto didn’t care about snacks. He wanted to jump in _right now._  
  


Everyone from yesterday had turned out for the event. There was Ino in her purple suit, and Shika, who’d apparently stayed the night. There was Shino with his wraparound glasses, and Hinata, who turned absolutely pink when Naruto smiled at her.   
  


Naruto looked around at everyone shuffling off their sandals. It was like another movie scene.  
  


The warm, bubbly feeling in his gut from yesterday began to froth again.  
  


“Last one in is a rotten egg!” Kiba hollered and cannonballed in.   
  


The pool was perfect. The _food_ was perfect—sandwiches cut in cool shapes and popsicles that made Naruto’s mouth tingle and turn orange. The chlorine made his hands and knees all soft; he scraped his knuckles on the pool floor while playing chicken but couldn’t bring himself to care. The world was _bright,_ so bright, and he was surrounded by friends.  
  


Real, laughing-with-him-not-at-him, friends.  
  


By the time they had to leave Naruto was exhausted. Afterimages shone behind his eyelids every time he blinked; he licked his lips and tasted salt and sugar, pool water and lemonade. His towel hung damp from his pruney fingertips.  
  


He and Sasuke left together amidst a shower of goodbyes. The sun was just beginning to set, spilling fire and turning windows to molten gold. Naruto could feel a sunburn tingling on his cheeks when he smiled. God, he couldn’t stop _smiling._  
  


“I can see all your teeth,” Sasuke pointed out, but his eyes were crinkling too.  
  


They didn’t speak much. The walk home passed in soft silence, an unbroken hush of stirring trees and their sandals slapping on the pavement. Naruto breathed the cooling air deeply.   
  


“See?” he said, when they reached Sasuke’s house. The sunset dyed its blue paint to nearly black. “That was fun, right?”  
  


Sasuke twisted his towel in his hands. His cheeks were pink, too, and the back of his hair had dried sticking straight out. He was sticky, and rumpled, and tired. But he was _smiling._  
  


Seeing him smile made Naruto feel a solid weight in his gut—a comfortable heaviness, like he’d done something right. Satisfaction.  
  


“Yeah,” Sasuke murmured. He ducked his head, pausing for a moment, and lifted it again. “Thanks for inviting me, I guess.”  
  


“We should hang out again,” Naruto tried. “Like, tomorrow.”  
  


“Yeah, maybe,” Sasuke said. But the way he fidgeted and smiled said _yes._


	3. A Pinky Promise

Leaf Academy was everything Naruto hoped for. The school sat only four blocks away (he’d counted) and barely twenty minutes by foot. It was big and  _ green,  _ with fresh-cut grass and shiny paint and classrooms that smelled like new ink.

Naruto got a new backpack (orange) and a notebook to write in (also orange). He got to eat sack lunches like the kids on TV, with crustless sandwiches and peeled fruit. Sometimes Iruka even left a note.

His favorite part of Leaf Academy, however, was the walk there.

They all lived close enough to go together: Sasuke earliest, waking Naruto, and Sakura close behind; Ino, Shika, and Choji all stepping over cracks in the sidewalk; Kiba with Hinata and Shino, a boy who’d been at summer science camp, hot on his heels. They crossed the way with hands linked and heads looking both ways. 

They had to get up early. Naruto had to be ready to leave by the time Sasuke was or he’d leave him behind. Once in a while he’d actually do that; those were the days Iruka had to speedwalk Naruto to school. It was nice, but Naruto thought he liked it the other way better. Sometimes Sasuke would even share his toast with him.

It turned out that Naruto didn’t share a class with Sasuke, but that was OK. He got to be with Kurenai-sensei instead. 

Kurenai-sensei was the nicest second grade teacher  _ ever.  _ She was nice and pretty and smelled really good. She gave stickers just for coming to school every day—tons of them, with flowers and leaves and ladybugs. Naruto saved them all.

Kurenai-sensei didn’t mind that he laughed too loud. She let Naruto read anything from the class library; once, she let him take the book about the moose home to show Iruka. She wrote tiny notes in red ink on all of his homework, like  _ Good job!  _ and  _ Great!  _ She smiled so nice that Naruto felt desperate to please her.

It was all like a dream. Naruto got to spend every day with his friends—at school, on walks, in class. He even shared a table in Kurenai-sensei’s room with  _ Sakura.  _

He could add. He could read. He could tie his shoes. Everything was perfect.

He was living his dream.

* * *

“Iruka?” 

“Yes, Naruto?”

“Can two boys be married?”

Iruka paused. He looked up from the macaroni on the stove. Naruto stared back at him from the kitchen table.

Iruka set down the wooden spoon. “Of course,” he said. “Just like a boy and a girl, or two girls.”

Naruto sucked air between his teeth. “Okay.”

“Why?” Iruka asked. “What made you think of that?”

Naruto tapped his crayon on his coloring book. He wasn’t sure how to put it. “I didn’t know,” he finally said. “I thought.. I saw lots of parents after school today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Sasuke was taking forever. I waited for him on the swing.”

“That’s nice of you,” Iruka said. He went back to stirring the macaroni, slow and steady. The smell of cheese made Naruto’s mouth water. 

“I saw Lee’s dads,” Naruto explained. “He had two of them, and they could pick him up just by holding his hands.” He frowned. “Why can’t  _ you  _ do that, Iruka?”

Iruka choked. “Well, uh—”

“Anyway,” Naruto said, “I was just wondering. Because Sasuke has a mom and dad, and Sakura does, too. And Kiba, and Ino, and Shino, and—”

“Right, right. I see what you mean.”

“Yeah.” Naruto colored the last bit of the page. A ninja glared back at him, orange and blue. The knife in his hand was extra pointy. “I was just wondering.”

“Anybody can marry anybody,” Iruka said. “It’s all up to who you love.”

Naruto liked the sound of that. An idea began to form in his brain as he moved on to the next page, coloring that ninja blue and white. He gave it black hair, like Sasuke’s. They could  _ both  _ be ninjas. 

“Okay,” he said.

* * *

The one thing Naruto never got over was how alike he and Sasuke could be. They were neighbors, sure, but their lives were different in tons of ways: Sasuke had an older brother he looked up to, and a big piano in his giant house, and a huge treehouse in the backyard. He had a mom who liked to bake cookies and a cat named Mochi who slept in the laundry. He  _ had a treehouse. _

Naruto had nearly broken his arm the first time Sasuke invited him up. The oak in their backyard was huge and gnarled, branches sprawling to cradle the treehouse with its square windows and painted roof. There was a rug on the floor and just enough space for three bodies to lay side-by-side inside—three, if Naruto hadn’t squirmed enough to nearly fall out the front door.

But they’d mastered staying still since then. On the weekends when everyone was sick, or too busy, or out of town, the three of them would shuffle up into the treehouse and listen to the birds. 

It was one of these weekends—warm, with Sakura squeezed between Sasuke and Naruto on the treehouse rug—that Naruto announced his plan.

“I decided,” he told them. “We’re getting married.”

Sakura sat up. “What?”

“You heard me.” He blinked up at her, smiling toothily. “I asked Iruka. He said  _ anybody  _ could. So we should!”

“Why?” Sasuke asked. He didn’t look like he hated the idea, but there was a little frown between his eyebrows. Thinking, again. 

“Why not?” Naruto spread his hands above him. “Think about it. We wouldn’t have to walk to each other’s houses anymore. And we could share all of our cookies, and have a ton of pet frogs—”

“Does it have to be frogs?” Sakura frowned. “Only  _ you  _ like them.”

“Okay, maybe not  _ all  _ frogs,” Naruto relented. “But at least like, twenty.”

“But what about chores? How do we decide who does those?”

“We don’t. We just won’t do them.”

Sasuke thought about this. After a moment he began to nod. “That sounds nice.”

“Wait, wait,” Sakura said. “But what if we miss our parents? And I don’t wanna share a bed with  _ you,  _ Naruto. You kick in your sleep!”

“And  _ you  _ snore,” he shot back, but she was right. “Okay, how about this. We’ll just have our parents come over every day. And we can have our own rooms, for our own pets.”

“That sounds like right now,” Sasuke pointed out.

They fell into silence again. Naruto chewed his lip and stared at the ceiling. There were little red fans painted up there, spotting the wood almost like polka-dots. He thought he might like them.

“Okay,” Naruto said. “Then we can get married and live in houses all next to each other with our own pets.”

“And our families,” Sasuke added. Sakura nodded fervently.

“It’s a deal.” Naruto sat up, ushering the others to do the same. They all huddled in a circle, knees pressing into the nubby carpet. The sunshine spilled through the window like upended watercolors, all watery gold and pale blue sky; Naruto tasted salt on his lips when he cleared his throat. “Pinky promise on it.”

“Pinky promise,” Sakura echoed. Her pinky was covered in chipped pink polish, sparkly and bright, and her hand was warm where it brushed Naruto’s. They both turned to Sasuke.

“Sasuke?” Naruto prompted.

Sasuke looked from one to the other. He looked a lot like the boy Naruto had met that first day—rumpled and grass-stained, dressed in blue—but Naruto knew so much about him that he hadn’t before. 

Tomatoes and brothers, piano lessons and cats, perfect scores and favorite books. They could almost see each other through their bedroom windows; they could talk without speaking a single world. They could do  _ anything. _

_ Best friends,  _ Naruto thought, looking from Sakura to Sasuke. They were his  _ best friends.  _

Sasuke looked back at them. He smiled, just barely, but it was enough. They knew what he would say.

He twined his pinky around both of theirs. “Pinky promise,” he said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback appreciated! (: 
> 
> [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)


	4. The Birthday Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this wasn't part of my plans, but I sat down on sasuke's birthday and was overcome with the urge to write him happy, so...

The Hidden Leaves neighborhood had lots of things that made it special. There were the thick trees in every yard, oaks and willows and magnolias that spilled white petals in the spring. Naruto loved when it rained; the tree outside his window would wiggle, rubbing leaves over the glass like a wave hello. His very own tree friend.

Hidden Leaves also had a park. It was a little too far to go alone, but Naruto never had to _be_ alone. Kiba or Shika or Sasuke would invite him out and they’d swing, or play on the jungle gym, or kick sand. Once they even got Shino to eat a bug they found. 

There were the bright houses, the painted mailboxes and smiling neighbors. After two years Naruto could name every person on his block. He knew every dog and cat. He knew all the birds, like the doves that lived down the street, and the anthill wedged below someone’s fence. He knew _everything_ —and he loved it all.

Hidden Leaves was the fairytale Naruto could run to when he got a bad math grade. Even if bullies called him stupid, nobody at home thought so. The world was bright and painted in a million colors. He was _safe._

Seasons passed like TV channels. Report cards and holidays and birthdays came and went. Iruka told Naruto he “grew like a weed”. Naruto hoped it was a nice weed, like the ones with little pink flowers in the sidewalk. He liked those a lot.

Leaf Academy became a second home. Second grade with Sakura, third grade with Ino and Choji. Naruto got a new calendar, and then another one. Things were like always.

And then he was eight, and things began to change.

* * *

  


“July 23rd,” Iruka read aloud. He had one hand on the calendar and the other in an oven mitt. “Sasuke’s birthday is in two weeks.”

Naruto looked up from the kitchen floor. “When?”

“Saturday.” Iruka moved to wash dishes. “Is he doing anything?”

“I don’t know.” Naruto squinted through the oven door. He could barely see the cookies inside without the oven light on. “He hasn’t said anything.”

“You should find out,” Iruka suggested. “If he’s having a party, then maybe you can pitch in with the others on a gift.”

 _A party._ It was almost impossible to get everyone together now that they had sports or dance or music lessons, but parties were the one time everyone _had_ to show up _._ Naruto remembered his last birthday, they’d all jumped on his trampoline until he chipped a tooth. It had been _awesome._

But were parties Sasuke’s thing? Naruto could get his best friend out of the house, but sometimes Sasuke got all weird if there were too many people. He didn’t get bouncy the same way Naruto did in big crowds, or talk as much. 

For Sasuke’s last two birthdays he’d been out of town. This would be the first one Naruto would go to— if Sasuke didn’t leave again, anyway. Or not invite him. He wouldn’t do that, would he? 

_If he doesn’t,_ Naruto decided, _I’ll just go over and let myself in._ He knew where they hid the spare key.

“I know where you keep your spare,” he told Sasuke later. They were sitting under the willow in Sasuke’s front yard, sweaty from kicking the soccer ball. “You can’t hide from me.”

Sasuke gave him a strange look. “What?”

“I _know where it is._ ”

“Okay, weirdo. And here I was gonna invite you to my birthday—”

Naruto sat up. “Wait! I take it back!”

“No way,” Sasuke crowed. “It’s too late. You’re uninvited. I’ll have Itachi eat your cake slice.”

“You don’t even like cake!” Naruto pointed out. “He’d eat yours, too!” He scowled, flushing beneath his sweat. “Reinvite me.”

“No.”

_"Sasuke.”_

_“No.”_

“Fine!” He stood up, looming over Sasuke in the grass. “I’ll _make_ you reinvite me!”

“Wh— _oomph!_ ”

Naruto bellyflopped onto Sasuke’s exposed stomach, knocking the air out of him. Sasuke was quick to recover, though, and in an instant they were rolling, wrestling for dominance. Naruto opened his mouth to shout and ate grass.

They rolled and rolled. Willow bark bit into Naruto’s elbow. Sasuke got dirt all over his chin. Soon their clothes were stained with fresh smears, green and brown and a little rust from Naruto’s arm. It was gonna sting later.

Sasuke flopped back on the grass. Naruto lay beside him, panting. They stared up at the hanging willow branches, watching the light waft through while gasping for breath.

“I wasn’t really gonna uninvite you,” Sasuke eventually mumbled.

“I know.”

“Yeah. _Sure_ you did.” He huffed a laugh. “You sounded like you were gonna call my mom.”

“Nah.” Naruto smiled crooked, staring up at the leaves. “I know where you keep your spare key.”

* * *

On July 23rd, at _exactly_ 6:00, Naruto finished taping together Sasuke’s present.

“Naruto! Don’t you have dinner to get to?”

“Coming!”

He stood, knocking tape, scissors, and glue out of his lap. “Just had to finish wrapping!”

“Wrapping?” Iruka echoed. He came to Naruto’s bedroom door. “Didn’t I tell you to do that right after we got home?”

“It’s harder than it looks!”

Iruka eyed the box. There were glue drips and tape folds hanging where Naruto hadn’t quite got the paper to flatten. “Right,” he said. “Did you pack your bag?”

“Yeah.”

 _"With_ your toothbrush?”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “ _Yes.”_

“What about your pajamas?”

“I’ve got ‘em.” Naruto slung his bag over his shoulder. “I can just come back if I forgot something.”

“You _can._ That doesn’t mean you _will._ ”

Naruto scrunched up his nose. “I’m gonna be late,” he complained.

“Alright, alright. I’ll let you go. But be sure not to give the Uchihas any trouble, okay?”

“Trouble?” Naruto batted his eyelashes from the front door. “When have I ever caused trouble?”

Iruka raised an eyebrow. “I’m not even going to answer that. I love you.”

“Love you,” Naruto chirped, and let the door slam behind him.

Dinner at the Uchiha’s was always a serious affair. They had a big wooden table with flowers in the middle, and fancy matching chairs with knitted cushions. There were things like _appetizers_ and _salad_ to go along with meals. There were napkins.

Naruto tried his best to sit still even with Mochi rubbing her tail on his feet. Sasuke sat across the table in his favorite shirt. Dinner was _his_ pick tonight, which meant one of two things: 1) that there were gonna be tomatoes, and 2) that there absolutely wasn’t going to be cake. 

_Too bad,_ Naruto thought. Cake was pretty good in his book.

Instead Sasuke’s mom served spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce and garlic bread soft enough to nearly melt on Naruto’s tongue. They got to drink sparkling juice out of fancy glasses. It was _amazing,_ deliciously mouth-watering, and Naruto ate until he thought he was gonna pop.

Sasuke wouldn’t stop smiling through the whole thing. He smiled when Itachi sat down and told him _happy birthday._ He smiled when Mikoto gave him a paper birthday crown to wear. He smiled when his dad ruffled his hair and passed him a napkin. 

He smiled so much it made Naruto’s face ache—and that was when he realized he couldn’t stop smiling, either. Sasuke’s happiness was infectious, like yawning, or when they gave each other the flu. Naruto saw him grinning with tomato sauce in his teeth and felt his insides _glow,_ bright and warm like a lightbulb. 

“Happy birthday,” he told him after dinner. He’d said it at least five times already, but he wanted to tell Sasuke again. Anything to keep him smiling. 

Sasuke beamed.

After dinner they moved out into the backyard. The porch light lit up their wet lawn in little pinpricks, and the grass tickled against Naruto’s bare feet. They looked up at the stars and savored the full moon. _The man on the moon,_ Sasuke’s mom told them. _He’s wishing you a happy birthday, too._

Sasuke smiled when Itachi brought out sparklers, and when he showed them how to hold them lit. Naruto stood side by side with him and watched the way the light played across his cheeks, his eyes, his bared teeth. The warm feeling in his gut continued to grow.

And when Naruto finally remembered to give him his gift—over matcha ice cream, not too sweet and deliciously cold—Sasuke laughed, bright and clear as a bell. He held up the comic books to the porch light and marveled their waxy sheen. 

“You’ll have to let me read ‘em when you’re done,” Naruto hold him, smiling through his words. “I didn’t get to look at them before I wrapped them.”

“Oh, so _you_ wrapped these? That makes a lot of sense.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sasuke lowered the comics and looked at him. “Nothing,” he smirked.

They changed into pajamas and brushed their teeth side by side in Sasuke’s bathroom. Naruto watched Sasuke wipe his face clean into his dinosaur bath towel and emerge, ruffled, with still the tiniest grin on his lips. 

The glow in Naruto’s gut ached.

Sasuke’s bed was big enough to fit both of them. He had dark blue sheets that smelled like him, and the softest comforter Naruto had ever felt. They huddled under the covers (after a good fight over who got the better pillow) and dozed with full bellies.

And then, when Naruto thought Sasuke had finally fallen asleep, he rolled over.

“This was the best birthday ever,” Sasuke whispered.

“Yeah?” Naruto squirmed, rolling over to look at him. The moon cast a shadow over Sasuke’s face, but Naruto could still see his eyes glittering. He was smiling even then.

“Yeah.” Sasuke paused, pulling the blanket up higher. “Thank you for coming over.”

Naruto sucked in a soft breath. He felt warm all over.

“You’re my best friend,” he said softly. “I wouldn’t miss it for _anything._ ” 

And the smile Sasuke gave him then, drowsy and ruffled by his pillow, was best of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy belated sasuke day!
> 
> [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)


	5. A Letter Through The Window

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is a week late! I uh. got formaldehyde poisoning. so I was too busy trying to breathe instead of writing?

“Today,” Asuma-sensei announced, “we’re going to write letters to our future selves.”

The class dissolved into murmurs and shuffling. Naruto squinted at the letter outline on the board.  _ Writing.  _ He tipped back his seat.  _ Why is it always writing? _

“What if we don’t have anything to say?” Shika asked. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep where he sat next to the sink, but Naruto wasn’t fooled. He saw what Shika got on their last math test. 

“No problem,” Asuma-sensei said. “That’s why I came up with an outline for you all.  _ And  _ we’ll have table talk about potential questions to ask before you write.” He grinned. “By the end of the week, everyone should have a full page letter ready to put in our time capsule.”

More groaning. A full page—and not even on wide-ruled paper Naruto used at home. He chewed on his pencil nervously. Maybe he could get Iruka to look it over later.

_ Dear Naruto,  _ he started, because Asuma-sensei insisted on it.  _ How are you doing? Did you like fourth grade?  _ He stopped.

“Ino. Psst!”

Ino, to her credit, didn’t immediately look up. They’d already gotten in trouble for talking during writing hour twice that year, and Asuma-sensei had threatened to switch seats if it became a problem. 

Naruto nudged her shin with his sneaker. She glared up at him through her bangs.

“Ino,” he breathed, leaning close. “What’re you writing about?”

“Stuff,” she whispered. One eyebrow lifted. “Why? Can’t you write your own letter?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Naruto admitted. He scratched his head with his pencil tip. “I uh. Dunno.”

“Ask someone else.” Her eyes darted to Asuma-sensei making rounds. “I don’t wanna get a bad score on behavior this week.  _ Again.” _

“That was  _ one time, _ ” Naruto rolled his eyes.

_ “Twice!” _

A shadow fell over their table. Naruto stiffened, dropping his pencil. Across the table, Ino’s cheeks flushed as pink as Sakura’s hair.

“Is there a problem?” Asuma-sensei looked between them. “I’d hate to have to move you, Ino. You were doing so well last week.”

Ino bit her lip. “It’s not me, sensei,” she said. “It’s  _ Naruto.  _ He’s—”

“I just don’t know what to write, okay?” Naruto snapped. He felt himself getting warm; he was painfully aware of the sudden silence in the room, the way even pencils had stopped moving. “This assignment is—I don’t like it.”

What did the vice principal always say?  _ Don’t make a spectacle, Naruto. _

_ Here I am,  _ he thought, feeling himself sweat.  _ Doing it  _ again. 

“If you’re having trouble,” Asuma-sensei said, “you can stay in during recess and I’ll help you. What about your list of questions?”

Naruto felt himself flush even harder. “They suck.”

Asuma-sensei hummed. “Do your best for now. When the bell rings, stay in, okay?”

* * *

_ Do you still like ramen?  _

_ How was your birthday? _

_ Is Sasuke still your best friend? _

Naruto scribbled out the last question.  _ Stupid,  _ he thought furiously.  _ This assignment is just—  _

“Naruto? What are you working on?”

“Nothing—” He leaned forward, fingers smudging lead  _ again,  _ ugh— “Just..”

Iruka put his hands on his hips. “Something for school? Don’t give me that face, I know you don’t like to write on your own. Do you need help?”

_ No,  _ his gut yelled. Naruto bit down on the word, chewing his tongue. He hated asking for help— hated how he  _ always  _ needed help on writing assignments. Science was OK cause of the experiments, and P.E. was even better, but  _ writing?  _ Naruto felt like he was perpetually flailing like a giant baby. He  _ hated  _ it.

“Yes,” he sighed.

“Okay.” Iruka pulled out the chair next to him. “What’s this? A letter to yourself?”

“A year from now,” Naruto sighed. “I have to write one to a future me. But I don’t even know what to say! Everything’s gonna be the  _ same.  _ What do I  _ say?” _

“The same, huh.” Iruka pulled his paper closer. “And these are.. your questions to yourself so far?”

“Asuma-sensei said I could think of more on my own, but this is all that I have.” Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t think of any more. I  _ tried _ , Iruka. I missed recess, and lunch, and—” He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. “I just..”

“Okay, okay.” Iruka stacked the papers. “Let’s take a breather, alright? Do you want some orange juice?”

Naruto swallowed again. He nodded.

“Alright,” Iruka said. “Let me get you some.”

They took their break out on the porch, twin glasses between their bodies. Naruto breathed the air, crisp and tangy the way it always got in the fall, and felt his heartbeat slow. Even when the world felt too heavy, home was always safe. He could be honest at home.

Iruka waited until the sun moved between the trees to turn back. “Are you ready to try again?” 

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. His fingers curled around his empty glass. He nodded.

* * *

The letter lesson opened a dam of possibilities. Naruto practiced any way he knew how for the rest of the week: writing letters to Iruka, writing letters to neighbors, writing letters to Sasuke and sticking them in his mailbox. They were all full of little things like weather and well-wishing, but Naruto felt himself easing into it. Every word made things easier.

He wrote until his hand cramped. He wrote until his eyes swam on the paper. He wrote until he snapped his pencil lead and had to crawl under the couch to find the sharpener. 

And then, on Friday before school began, he went to Asuma-sensei and turned in his letter to himself.

“It’s late,” Asuma-sensei said, “but it’s very well thought out. Thank you for remembering to turn it in.”

“I did my best,” Naruto said, and it was the truth.

The letters didn’t just stop there, though. Their fourth grade cubbys—tiny boxes, barely big enough to cram your fist in—started to fill with letters too. Letters from one table to another; letters from one class to another. Everyone had caught the letter-writing bug.

Naruto came home on Friday the following week with more than  _ ten  _ letters. They were all from his friends in the neighborhood, but they  _ counted. _

_ Dear Naruto,  _ they all started.  _ I hope you’re OK in Asuma-sensei’s room.. _

He stacked them all on the coffee table and read them with orange juice, over and over. He let Iruka read them. He read them a third time.

And then, when he’d splashed juice and wrinkled edges and smudged pencil lead, he gathered them all up and pinned them to his bedroom wall. They flopped and flapped with the breeze through his window like a billion waves  _ hello.  _

He never threw them away.

* * *

“Oh,  _ great. _ ” Sasuke shoved his fist into his cubby. “These again.”

Papers cascaded to the floor. Naruto eyed the lump of envelopes, creased pink paper and smeared gel ink. Someone had drawn hearts all over the outside of one.

“Letters from  _ girls?”  _ Naruto’s eyebrows rose. “There’s like  _ fifty  _ here, what the heck!”

“Idiot, can’t you count? A cubby can’t fit that many.”

“Right, but—” Naruto gestured at the mess. “How’d you get so many? Where are they coming from?”

“Who knows.” Sasuke nudged the mess with his shoe, wrinkling his nose. “They’re making my cubby a mess, though.”

Naruto helped him pick them all up. There was an odd fluttering in his chest, a tickle behind his ribs. He wanted to scratch it. 

He handed the letters to Sasuke. Sasuke looked down at it all, brow furrowed, and unceremoniously dumped them into the trashcan by the cubby wall.

_ “Sasuke!”  _ Naruto’s mouth popped open. “You’re not even going to  _ open  _ them?”

“Why would I? They all say the same thing.”

“But, someone  _ made  _ them.” Naruto eyed a speck of glitter on the carpet. “What if they put a lot of time into it?”

“Then they should’ve thought about how I don’t open any of them,” Sasuke said calmly. He leafed through the extra papers in his cubby. “They all say the same thing, Naruto. You can open and look if you want.”

Naruto bit his lip. He imagined the time that went into writing the pages and pages Sasuke had tossed like trash—the careful penmanship, the extra decorations. The bravery to put the letters where Sasuke would read them. 

He’d spent so much time writing his own letters. He knew how even a simple well-wishing took thought, careful letters spaced neatly. The idea of someone’s work being crumpled without even being seen made his stomach turn hot.

“It’s not right,” he told Sasuke flatly. “And you’re a jerk for not even looking.”

Sasuke recoiled. They’d had hundreds of spats over the years over the years, but they all dissolved into fists and laughter. Naruto never came after him quietly like this.

“What?” He raised an eyebrow, face stiffening into that sharp look he’d begun to grow into. “You  _ jealous?” _

Naruto flushed to his toes. “No!” The tickle in his chest sharpened into something almost painful. “You—You’re just being an  _ idiot. _ ”

“Takes one to know one.”

They eyed each other darkly.

“I’m going home on my own,” Sasuke announced. “Don’t bother trying to catch up.” He crammed the leftover papers back in his cubby and elbowed out of the classroom.

* * *

_ Dear Sasuke,  _ Naruto started when he got home.  _ You are a big fat butthead. _

He sat back at his desk. The hot throbbing in his chest had dulled into an ugly ache the whole walk home alone. His hands trembled with every pencil stroke; he could hardly sit still.  _ When I get home, I’m going to write my  _ own  _ letter to him _ , he’d decided.  _ And I’ll tell him how stupid he is! Then he’ll get it! _

But now that he was sitting there, he realized he had no idea what to say.

_ You sholdnt ignore people like that,  _ he added, and stared at the wall. His letters from last week flapped back at him, waving and waving. He could see Sasuke’s among them, penned perfectly in neat, dark blue ink. 

_ Dont you know how hard it is to write something like that? Well, maybe you don’t but  _ ~~_ you should  _ ~~ _ it IS hard. for some people. Just becaus it isnt for you dosnt mean its not for other people. _

The hot knot in his chest eased some. He pursed his lips and tapped his pencil against his mouth. There was still almost a whole page left of room. What was he going to put there?

_ Think about it,  _ he put on the next line.  _ I dont want to be mad at you anymore. _

There was nothing else to say. Naruto felt a sort of relief with the writing, a weight off his lungs he usually eased with tears or fists. To have it pushed away with just a few words felt alien to him. Like he was cheating, somehow.

_ Is this how Iruka feels when he writes?  _ Naruto wondered.

He didn’t have time to ponder on it. He could see Sasuke’s bedroom window from his own—their windows were only separated by a willow tree and a fence—and through the window he could see shadows moving. Sasuke was home from judo practice, then.

It was now or never.

He folded the letter in half and then quarters. Smaller and smaller, until it was a wad of paper in his palm. Thick enough to throw. 

Naruto stuck his head out the window. The tree made things hard, but with his slingshot he was sure not to miss. He’d practiced before, when Sasuke stayed home sick from school. 

_ Letters should be put in mailboxes,  _ Iruka told him, but Naruto didn’t want anyone but Sasuke to read this. He felt almost embarrassed, the odd itch in his chest warping. No. This was Sasuke’s alone.

He dug his slingshot out from under his bed, propped the letter wad into it, and took aim. 

Thirty seconds. A minute. Two minutes— 

A familiar head of duckbutt hair stuck out the window. 

“Come over,” Sasuke called down to him. 

Naruto felt the itch in his chest soothe. He stuck his head out and grinned up at him, taking in the twist of Sasuke’s mouth and his pink cheeks. He knew when Sasuke was thoroughly cowed. 

“Okay,” he called back. “Be over in a sec.” He turned and ran out of his bedroom, brushing the pinned letters as he passed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the level of forgiveness little kids have with each other is amazing lmao  
> the temptation to make all the chapters about Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is a big one, but I'm determined to at least give a little window into what school life is like! the next chapter will be back to Naruto and the HL squad though.
> 
> feedback is appreciated!
> 
> [tumblr](http://poetatertot.tumblr.com)


	6. The Big Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is so late -- nothing was coming out right so I had to redo the whole outline twice on top of working long hours every day.. in the end I couldn't look at this chapter anymore LOL I'm so sorry

“So.” Iruka looked up from his paperwork. “It’s finally October.”

Naruto beamed from across the table. Of course he already knew; he’d been counting the weeks—no, the _days_ —since Sasuke’s birthday. July was full of wonderful summer things, but everyone knew October was the best month. 

Fall festivals. Pumpkin pie and apple cider. _Halloween._ October was full of Iruka’s scented candles and creepy decorations; it was the one month where Naruto could be as orange as he wanted and nobody would say anything. It was the one month with his _birthday._

October really had everything.

“You sent out all the invitations, right Naruto?”

“Last week,” he replied. He’d spent twenty minutes in the card aisle last weekend before settling on a set with dancing frogs. They even had little hats, and _canes._

He’d filled them all out—careful to spell _invite_ right, like Iruka showed him—and stuffed every friend’s mailbox in the neighborhood. The replies flowed in the next day like water: _yes, of course, what do you want for your birthday?_

Naruto’s heart soared. He’d never had a sleepover so big in his whole life, but Iruka had said they could all sleep on the livingroom floor. They just had to bring their own bags and pillows. 

_And gifts,_ he hoped. Just one, even. Or food.

“Kiba’s gonna bring his Wii,” Naruto informed Iruka. It didn’t matter that he’d already told him four times. Now that it was really, actually October, his birthday was becoming something _real._ Something with orange cake and sleeping bags and a whole freaking game of Mario Kart. 

Iruka’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “I know,” he said. “Just be sure not to play too long; it’s bad for your eyes.”

“I know,” Naruto echoed back at him, and grinned with all his teeth.

* * *

As luck would have it, October 10th was a Friday.

Naruto woke to a tapping on his window. He almost fell back asleep, but the taps were loud and evenly spaced, like heavy, fat raindrops. He laid there for a moment before he realized they were stones.

He ripped back the covers and shuffled over to the window. Sasuke’s silhouette stood clear against his own bedroom lamplight, perfectly dressed even though the sun was barely up. He had a handful of driveway gravel and was poised to throw before Naruto pushed up the window.

“What?” he whisper-yelled. “It’s not even 7AM yet!”

Sasuke lowered his hand. He stared for a long moment, a funny look on his face as he took in Naruto’s pajamas. Naruto watched him fidget before regaining composure.

“Happy birthday,” he called back softly.

Naruto’s irritation melted instantly. He couldn’t help but smile, recognizing that warm fluttering in his chest again. It was his _birthday._

It was his birthday, and Sasuke made sure he was the first one to tell him so.

“Thanks,” he replied. And then, “wait for me?”

“Dobe,” Sasuke huffed. “Who else would I walk to school with?”

“Sakura?" 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I’ll wait for you,” he promised, and disappeared from the window.

Naruto went through his morning motions with twice as much fervor. Since it was his birthday, he got to call the shots on _everything._ He got to wear his favorite orange shirt and shorts (with matching socks!) and drink a big glass of orange juice with pancakes. _Pancakes!_

“Don’t forget your bacon,” Iruka reminded him, dropping two strips on his plate. Naruto mumbled out a thanks around frantic mouthfuls.

The walk to school seemed brighter somehow. Naruto stepped over sidewalk cracks and marveled at the way the leaves were changing, trading deep greens for rich reds and golden yellows. The world smelled crisp and sharp like wet soil, or the inside of a new book. He breathed in deep, tasting the sweetness, and exhaled soft clouds.

Sasuke puffed beside him. “Someone’s in a good mood.” 

“It’s my birthday.” Naruto plucked a perfectly orange leaf from overhead and tucked it behind one ear. “Who wouldn’t be?”

The whole class sang to him that day. When they were done, Naruto got to pick out a cool pencil from the classroom prize box. At lunch, Choji brought him an extra Hostess cake, and when they went out on the playground, Ino let him take first turn on the swing.

Naruto’s cubby filled with cards—more than he’d ever seen in his life. It was as if everyone in the world knew it was his day. 

_Mine,_ he thought triumphantly. Their smiles, their well-wishing and careful words were all _his_.

Iruka invited Sasuke out grocery shopping with them after school. Naruto got to turn on pop radio and sang along as loud as he could. Even Sasuke tapped along to the beat, though Naruto knew he’d never admit to it.

They bought all sorts of things: balloons and napkins, party plates with ninjas on them. They got to pick out orange cupcakes and party hats, chips and soda. 

“Your choice,” Iruka would say when Naruto asked for something. “Today, it’s your choice.” 

Back at home, the three of them set everything out for the party. Iruka had to keep batting Naruto’s hand away from prematurely eating the chips and cookies while he strung a bright orange banner. Sasuke blew balloons until his face turned red; Naruto laughed with him, snapping open noisemakers and setting out plates.

And then the doorbell began to ring.

* * *

“Oh my god,” Kiba groaned. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat again.”

“That’s what you said an hour ago,” Shino pointed out. “And then you ate half a bag of Doritos.”

"Nacho _cheese,_ Shino! They were _nacho cheese_ Doritos! I had to!”

Choji nodded sagely. “You can’t leave good Doritos to get stale. That’s like, a law or something.”

“Or something,” Shika echoed sleepily. Even he was suffering from a food coma after the last cupcake. It’d been a mistake, probably, but what sleepover _didn’t_ have you stuffing yourself? 

_Bad ones,_ Naruto decided. He patted his full belly. 

The party had been a success so far. By six, his living room had been packed with all the kids he’d invited. They’d immediately torn into the mountain of food, devouring pizza and chips and fruit like their lives depended on it. Naruto had seriously never seen Choji eat so many barbecue chips—it had to be a record or something. 

Then, full as they were, they’d gone into the backyard and played a game of kickball. Twice Sasuke had to jog next door and fish the ball out of his bushes. Naruto himself got the winning kick, a magnificent punt that sent their poor old ball straight up into the magnolias. Iruka had had to poke it down with a broom.

They all shuffled back inside for cupcakes and ice cream after it got too dark to play. Naruto blew out a giant _9_ stuck into an orange-frosted vanilla cupcake and everyone hollered, waving noisemakers and snapping party hat ribbons. He’d hardly been able to keep his eyes open, he was smiling so hard. 

Hinata, Ino, and Sakura took the first turns at Mario Kart before Sakura’s mom showed up. The girls weren’t allowed to sleep over—for whatever reason, Naruto _still_ didn’t know—but they were having their own get-together at Sakura’s house. Naruto waved goodbye from his porch, watching their party hats bob further and further away down the sidewalk.

But then. _Then_ it was really on.

“Winner gets the last bag of Doritos,” Choji announced ominously. Nevermind that they were all so stuffed they could hardly move, a bag of Doritos was a bag of Doritos and _hell_ if everyone wasn’t going to fight for them. 

They took the time to sketch out brackets before playing rounds. Naruto went first against Shino, then Sasuke— _that_ round had nearly ended in fists—before it was just him and Kiba. 

Rainbow Road was a billion times more treacherous with Kiba nudging his legs and arms, elbows pointed out to knock him over. Naruto hit corners, fell over edges, and then it was all over. No blue shell could save him from certain defeat. 

Now, stuffed to the max and exhausted from hours of roughhousing, they nearly fell asleep sitting up. The night was winding down faster than Naruto had expected, but he couldn't be mad about it. Everything had gone to plan.

"If you boys are going to nap on the carpet, you might as well get ready for bed," Iruka told them. They nodded, blearily pulling open bags and taking turns brushing teeth in the single bathroom. Iruka helped them set up a line of blankets and pillows and sleeping bags, and they crawled into their beds gratefully. 

"Sleep tight," Iruka whispered. Naruto squinted at his silhouette, big and solid against the hall lights, and that familiar warmth bloomed inside. He tucked his smile in under the covers.

"Happy birthday," Shika slurred somewhere on the right. "Hope your day was perfect." The other boys chimed in softly. 

"Thanks guys," Naruto breathed. His fingers curled tight into his pillow as he breathed in the air, sweet with sugar and leftover snacks. His stomach was full of butterflies or bright bugs, a thousand of them humming happily, and even as he closed his eyes he couldn't wipe his grin away.

_Happy birthday to me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter should be back up to par (and on-time) 
> 
> thank you all for your patience!


	7. Thoughts Unbidden

There was something to be said about how the years passed in a blink of an eye.

Time had started so slowly that first day in the Hidden Leaves. Naruto could remember it like it was yesterday: the sidewalk heat, the fresh orange paint, the  _ brightness  _ of everything existing around him. He’d been enamored from day one; no amount of time could change that.

But other things could—and  _ did. _

Naruto hadn’t understood much about Iruka’s work before. He’d been in school, too, and only graduated right before Naruto’s tenth birthday. There were dreams Iruka wanted to chase too, he always said. Dreams of being a teacher.

Naruto didn’t know much about being a teacher. He’d imagined that it was a lot like every other job,that you just  _ become  _ one. That you chose it and that everything came along easily. He’d never thought about all the labor that went into setting up, or planning lessons, or grading papers. He’d never had to before.

But  _ oh,  _ did he know about it  _ now. _

The rhythm of summer in the Hidden Leaves neighborhood didn’t seem to change on the surface, but Naruto knew better. He could feel—something. A quickening of pace. An awareness he’d never had before.

Leaves changing. Birthdays. Holidays. Report cards. Setting up classrooms and taking them down again. 

He didn’t know what to make of it. He was happy for the newfound freedom that came with getting older, sure, but it was starting to feel more and more like something else was chipping away.

_ But what? _

Naruto didn’t know, but the awareness made him uneasy. 

* * *

If there was one thing left unchanged, it was the summer heat.

Naruto wiped his palms on his shorts. August afternoons were almost unbearable without AC, a crushing heat spreading over everything like thick cotton. His lungs felt heavy; he breathed, and felt fire on his lips. He was  _ dying. _

“Iruka,” he groaned. “Can’t we take a break?”

Iruka’s pineapple hair poked above a stack of boxes. “You just took your break, remember? And what happened to  _ getting it all done in one afternoon _ ?”

“I change my mind,” Naruto said flatly. He glared at the stacked boxes. They were a menace to his summer vacation. “This is going to take  _ forever _ .”

“It only takes as long as you let it,” Iruka said patiently. “Come on. How about we unpack this stack and then grab some food?”

Naruto eyed the load. There had to be at least five more boxes all bunched next to the door, all full to the brim with teaching supplies and knick-knacks and library books. He didn’t even know where everything was supposed to  _ go. _

But the thought of a cold soda—orange flavored, his favorite—and takeout sounded  _ killer.  _ He’d do anything to have both. And a fan. And all of his clothes off.

August heat waves were the worst.

“Yeah, alright.” He wiped his palms again. Dust stuck under his fingernails like oil, coating his hands in filth. He grimaced. “Give me a sec.”

They’d been working for hours. Box after box unfolded, contents spilling out like some teacher’s dream pinata. It was up to Naruto to unload everything and help Iruka find a place for it all. Every June they had to pack these boxes; every August they’d unpack them again. It was like clockwork, as sure as the sunrise and morning birds. 

You would think Naruto knew what he was doing after two years, but he didn’t.

“So,” Iruka said. They were on the day’s last box—a bunch of desk stuff Naruto had to wipe clean with a rag. How did teachers collect so many plastic apples? “Do you feel ready for middle school?”

Naruto hand slowed. He shrugged. “Sure.”

“Sure?” Iruka looked up from a stack of manuals. “That doesn’t sound very confident.”

It didn’t. But how did Naruto tell him that things were getting  _ weird  _ around here? The other day he’d caught Kiba and Hinata holding hands at the park, and Ino was getting all uptight about things like  _ skincare  _ and  _ modesty  _ that Naruto didn’t really know  _ what _ to make of. 

A divide was starting to grow between the girls and boys, like someone had drawn an invisible chalk line. They didn’t touch for too long. They didn’t look for too long. Sakura shrugged him off like a bug the last time he’d tried to flop into her lap.

It was like everyone had suddenly caught the flu, except people weren’t getting sick. Just, just— 

“Naruto?” 

He blinked. The apple in his hand shone too-bright, polished within an inch of its life. He could see his face reflected in it, pink and sweaty. It was familiar, but there was a wrongness there, too. He was changing.

He hated it.

“Sakura’s getting all weird,” he finally said. It was the least of his worries, but he knew he had to tell Iruka something, or he’d give That Look that always made Naruto feel super guilty. “She’s always talking about her hair, now.”

Iruka hummed. “Is that bad?”

“It’s  _ weird, _ ” he repeated, louder. “And Ino said—” He stopped, biting his lip.

“ _ Don’t you think it’s weird? The way you two hang off of each other. No way either of you are gonna get a girlfriend acting like that!” _

_ “As if I care.” Naruto wrapped his arms over his head. “I don’t care about girls. And Sasuke’s my  _ best friend.”

_ “It’s weird,” Ino repeated. “Just saying.” _

He’d been telling the truth. He didn’t  _ want  _ a girlfriend. Girls were barely on his radar at all. Why did it matter to him what they looked like to other people?

_ But Sasuke _ . 

Sasuke was good-looking, he supposed. Everybody knew he was. He had the kind of moody face the girls swooned over, and eyelashes long enough to rival Sakura’s. He was smart, and funny, and— 

_ Maybe Sasuke wants a girlfriend.  _

Naruto didn’t know how to bring it up. Things in middle school would be different, with tons of new kids that weren’t from Leaf Academy, and things like  _ dances  _ and  _ fifth period.  _ There were probably tons of pretty girls all waiting to ask Sasuke out, and Naruto was just hanging off him like a barnacle. Like a, a— 

_ Cockblock,  _ Kiba called it.  _ Naruto, you gotta stop cockblocking me, bro. Read the situation! _

Naruto was reading something now, alright.

“I just don’t want things to change,” he finally said. “I like the way things are  _ now. _ ”

Iruka carefully set down a stack of books. “Sometimes change is a good thing,” he said. “You never know. Maybe you’ll really like middle school.”

Naruto stared down at the object in his hands. It was a framed photo—an old one from his tenth birthday. He was missing a front tooth, and had half a cupcake crammed onto his face. Iruka beamed next to him, equally frosted. 

It had only been two years, but he was already someone different. They were  _ all  _ becoming someone different.

“Maybe,” he said, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

* * *

Even if everything else was changing, at least the park stayed the same.

Dusk prickled cool against Naruto’s neck, soothing what was going to be an annoying burn tomorrow. The chill of it startled something within him—a wakefulness that widened his eyes and sharpened his vision. He felt centered in the wood chips, the soft strawberry of Sakura’s deodorant and the prickling burn of Choji’s hot chips wafting into his senses. He felt  _ awake. _

Their favorite park rides had changed over the years. First there was the hidey horses, paint worn away on plastic springs; then there was the slides, etched with their initials on the underside where nobody would look. There was the swings, but they always had to take turns.

Now, the summer before seventh grade, the jungle gym was  _ theirs. _

Ino wrapped her ankles around the corkscrew and squinted at her phone. She had so many charms hanging from it that Sasuke called it  _ the whip. _

“You guys seen the new  _ Harry Potter _ movie?” 

Shikamaru shifted from on top of the monkey bars. “I heard it’s alright.”

“We should go see it,” she suggested. “It’s not like we’re doing anything else tomorrow, right?”

“Really?” Hinata picked at the woodchip pile in her lap. “But I heard it’s  _ PG-13. _ ”

“So? We’re all thirteen now, aren’t we?” She paused, eyes flashing to Naruto. “Or close. It’ll be fine. Just say you’re going to see  _ Up  _ again or something.”

Hinata bit her lip. “I—”

“Don’t worry,” Kiba said. He plucked a woodchip from her pile and poked her gently. “You can sit next to me, okay? So if you’re scared, then—” He paused, flushing. His eyes flashed to the rest of them. “Then, uh—”

_ “Cute, _ ” Sakura sang. Naruto didn’t miss the way her gaze drifted over to Sasuke and back. “You guys can sit by yourselves if you want.”   
  
Hinata turned positively red. “Um, that’s okay.” Ino and Sakura both laughed brightly. 

“Hey, anyway,” Kiba pushed on. “Your birthday’s in October, right?”

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed glumly. “I still got a few more months.” It was times like this that reminded him how much younger he was than everyone else—the group’s  _ baby,  _ Shikamaru would tease him with. He was  _ the baby.  _

_ Sasuke’s not that much older,  _ he would always point out, but Shikamaru just shook his head.  _ It’s different,  _ he’d say.  _ You’re… _

“Are you nervous for middle school?” Naruto asked Sasuke later. They’d all agreed to meet back up in the evening, when the sky was turning purple. Kiba’s older sister had a van big enough to pack them all in and drive them to the mall theater.

Sasuke shook his head. “It’s just another year of school,” he said. “Mom will probably make a big deal out of our first day, though.”

“Ah.” Naruto tossed up the tennis ball, watching it make its perfect arc through the air. It was the same one they’d used all those years to play baseball in the backyard, and the green fuzz was almost completely worn away. There was even a huge dent in it from where Itachi had hit a home run into the neighbor’s yard. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Up, down. Up, down. The tennis ball thudded into his palms.

“Are you?” Sasuke asked.

Down. Naruto’s fingers curled around the ball, squeezing it tightly. He felt his lungs echo the motion, pinching tight under his ribs. “Something like that,” he admitted softly. “I don’t want to be, though.”

“What are you afraid of?”

Naruto tipped his head back. They were under the big willow tree again; the whispering leaves shifted light across their faces, blinding one moment and soothing the next. The sunset bled a vivid that dyed Sasuke’s hair navy. He wasn’t even looking at Naruto but up with him towards the sky, and his focused expression suddenly made Naruto  _ ache.  _

“Nothing,” he finally forced out. “It’s nothing.”

“If you’re sure,” Sasuke replied. He knew better than to push, and Naruto liked that about him. He liked nearly everything about Sasuke.

“I’m sure,” he murmured, and willed the strangeness deep down as best he could. He wouldn’t ruin the end of summer like this. He  _ wouldn’t.  _

_ It’s just another year of school,  _ he told himself. Sasuke was right. Everything was going to be just fine.

But why couldn’t he shake this feeling?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the classroom unpacking scene was the first one I wrote for this story! and yes, you really do have to pack up everything in the classroom every year and unpack it in the fall. it's a massive pain.
> 
> in other news, I've started a WIP draft for a much longer, less juvenile fic.. how do y'all feel about supernatural AUs? (: keep an eye out!
> 
> feedback appreciated!


	8. An Unexpected Companion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you were hoping I would jump right into the middle school drama, but I started this chapter and suddenly.. this happened instead? we're hitting the point where I'm flying blind away from my outline..

There were days where Naruto still felt the  _ dream:  _ wistfulness with falling leaves; thrills over crisp air and colorful mailboxes. Those mornings stretched on like a lucid dream; light gleamed around him, crystal raindrops suspended in spider web. Those were the days where the walk to Hidden Middle stretched to infinity. 

And then there were days like today.

“Fucking shit,” Naruto panted. His backpack thumped incessantly against his backside, a steady  _ one-two  _ rhythm that knocked textbooks into his spine. He felt like a baby was kicking him in the back.  _ “Shit!” _

He tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. His pre-algebra textbook slammed into his tailbone and smarted all the way up his back.  _ Make that two babies,  _ he thought miserably, and picked up the pace again.

Cars whizzed past. Faces ogled from windows at his dilemma. His face, pink with exertion, flamed scarlet as a truck-full of high-schoolers drove by and laughed.

Naruto imagined Iruka getting the call again. The way his nose would wrinkle as the automated message came through—the way his eyes would snap to Naruto’s cowered shoulders mid-call and narrow slightly.

_ We are calling to report your student’s tardiness.. _

It wasn’t his fault.  _ Really.  _ Naruto was a growing boy! According to Iruka the only thing he did more than eat these days was sleep _.  _ Sure he could stay up late if he wanted—in Sasuke’s treehouse, bodies crammed tight, or under his comforter with his DS—but waking up in the morning? All bets were off.

“Don’t forget to set your alarm,” Iruka would remind him. He said it every day like maybe this would be the time the damn thing actually woke him up. “You’ll have to serve detentions if you keep up this habit.”

_ I’ve really gone and done it,  _ Naruto knew. His first period P.E. teacher was one of the biggest hardasses between Hidden Middle and freaking Kentucky. He’d warned Naruto that if he was late again he was going to have to  _ serve time  _ like some sort of prisoner.

What would it be? He jaywalked catty-corner, narrowly missing a honking sedan. Would he have to mop the gym floors during lunch? Run laps on the track until he died? Eat one of the cafeteria’s mystery meat sloppy joes?

An icy chill slithered down his nape despite his heat.  _ God.  _ Anything but that.

Hidden Middle’s hallways were dead silent by the time he made it. Naruto checked his watch; he was ten minutes late. Everyone in the locker room would have dressed out and started roll call by now. 

“Fucking shit fuck,” he whispered, slowing his pace. The locker room and gym were at the other end of campus. If he ran straight through the quad, someone was bound to call him out. He’d just have to take it slow. “Fucking  _ crap—” _

“Language,” someone said mildly.

Naruto froze. He’d recognize that voice anywhere. He spun around.

“Kakashi-sensei, I was just—”

“Late again?” One eyebrow lifted. His English teacher’s mouth twisted behind his surgical mask. “Ever considered buying an alarm clock?”

“I have two,” he admitted sheepishly. Kakashi-sensei snorted.

“Right. Of course.” 

The moment stretched. Naruto eyed his teacher, the way he slumped sleepily in the doorway with his coffee. This must be his free period— which meant Naruto could maybe spare a second to wheedle out a favor.

“Say,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to have a  _ tardy pass  _ would you? One maybe with my name on it?”

“That depends.” Kakashi-sensei straightened. His other eyebrow lifted to match. “Do you have something for me?”

“What—” Naruto spluttered. Was he serious? “I—”

“Goodbye.”

“No,  _ wait!”  _ Naruto lunged forward, fingers curling around the air where Kakashi-sensei’s arm had been. He’d missed at the last second on purpose; even  _ he  _ wasn’t dumb enough to grab a teacher. “I’ll think of something,” he pleaded, following Kakashi-sensei into the room. “I just  _ really  _ need that pass. I can’t be late again or Ibiki-sensei will  _ kill  _ me!”

“Ah,” Kakashi-sensei nodded. “Ibiki. Yes, he will.”

“Right, so.” Naruto paused, thinking frantically. “I don’t know, what do you want? I’ll do it. I really will. I just  _ need that pass.” _

Kakashi-sensei sat at his desk and propped up his feet. He pulled out a book—one of those bodice-ripper romance novels—and flipped open to a bookmark. Naruto clenched his fingers around the desk’s edge and waited.

Thirty seconds. “I’ll bring you breakfast,” Naruto tried.

A minute.

“I’ll wipe down all the desks for a month.”

A page turned.

“I’ll help you grade papers?”

Kakashi-sensei peered over his book. Naruto stared back. He could feel his heart thumping like it wanted to jump out of his mouth and run away but fuck if he wasn’t going to take back the words  _ now.  _ Not when he’d gotten his attention.

“For an hour every day,” his teacher finally said. 

“Fine,  _ done.  _ Can I have my pass now?”

“You’re not going to ask for how long?”

“I’ve got time to kill.”

Kakashi-sensei looked unimpressed. “If you half-ass the work, I’ll make you redo it.”

“Sure. Course.” Naruto fidgeted. His watch now proudly announced him fifteen minutes late. He’d die by Ibiki-sensei’s hand at this point.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Kakashi-sensei sighed, placing the book face-down. “Get me a pencil, would you?”

_ Alright,  _ Naruto thought, trudging into the locker room five minutes later.  _ Maybe I should have thought that one through.  _ But he can’t completely regret the decision he made when he walks up to Ibiki-sensei, late as you please, and hands over that note with a smile.

* * *

Afternoons with Kakashi-sensei could be worse. They actually feel a lot like afternoons with Iruka: the endless paper-shuffling, the smell of ink and fresh texts, the low laptop music punctuated with sighing. Apparently all teachers suffer the same post-school hours exhaustion, and Naruto is privy to a front-row view of Kakashi-sensei conking the fuck out.

“Where’s  _ your  _ alarm clock?” he asked. It’d been four consecutive afternoons of grading shit and alphabetizing filed essays. Every day Kakashi-sensei looked more and more like he was on his last leg. Did the guy sleep at night?

“At home,” his teacher said flatly. “Where’s your discretion?”

During school hours Naruto is strictly a back-seater. Now, surrounded by stacks and stacks of worksheets, he’s seated in the front desk right next to Kakashi-sensei’s. This close he can smell his teacher’s shoe polish and something like leftover lunch. The thought of food makes his gut growl.

They make an odd pair: him, rumpled and vividly orange, fingers smeared in red ink; his teacher, masked and straight-laced in grey and black, fingers playing with a dog keychain. He’d been spinning in his desk chair for what felt like ten minutes, staring at the ceiling. The keychain jangled endlessly with every spin.

Naruto learned a lot about Kakashi-sensei during those hours. He didn’t mean to, but the proximity felt so  _ familiar.  _ Something like Iruka, but less chipper and more sleepy. He found himself sharing a lot into that afternoon silence; Kakashi-sensei would share back in not so many words.

Kakashi-sensei lived with eight dogs. He liked to read and sleep in a hammock he put up in his yard. He drank coffee like he was dying but it never did any good. He liked Iruka’s brownies and only ate green M&Ms.

He wrote, just like Naruto did sometimes.

“What do you write about?”

“Life,” Kakashi-sensei deadpanned. He wouldn’t elaborate, but Naruto learned something out of that too. 

* * *

“Do you ever get bored of reading those kinds of books?”

It was an everyday afternoon, just like the eight before it. November was beginning to make itself known in a big way; Naruto found himself wearing socks to bed and a beanie to school. The leaves were in their final death throes on the sidewalks. Sasuke had piano practice or judo practice or study hall, but it was okay because they still had their weekends in the treehouse. Even if it was getting way too small to fit.

Kakashi looked up from his book. The cover was different from the others Naruto had seen, but not  _ too  _ different. There was the girl fainting, her clothes askew, and the man cradling her curved spine like something precious. The people themselves changed with the titles but the poses were always the same.

“Your books,” Naruto repeated. “If it’s the same shit every time, doesn’t it get boring?” What he really meant was  _ why do you like them anyway?  _ B ut he knew better than to outright ask. Something about discretion.

“No,” Kakashi said.

“Why?”

“Because I like them.”

“So?”

“So I won’t ever get bored of them. It doesn’t matter that this is the eighth iteration of the series; I’ll read them all as many times as I like. Because I like them.”

Naruto didn’t dare ask what an  _ iteration  _ is. “Okay,” he said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say. And then, “if that’s what you’re into.”

Kakashi’s eyes flit up to him. “Don’t  _ you  _ have something?” he asked.

“What?”

“You know. Something you like. It doesn’t matter how many times you go back to that thing. You still enjoy it the same every time, right? How is this any different?”

Naruto thought of things he liked. He liked cup noodles and the color orange. He liked Iruka’s cooking. He definitely couldn’t ever get enough of any of those things.

_ I like Sasuke,  _ he thought, and something about that statement made him nervous. But the same applied to him, too.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. He suddenly didn’t want to think about this topic anymore. “You’re weird, Kakashi-sensei.”

“And you’re nosy. But here we are.”  
  
“Here we are,” Naruto echoed. And he thought that he didn’t quite mind these afternoons, papers and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Sasuke need to hash some stuff out so we'll be sitting in the middle school phase for a couple chapters. I hope that's okay. speaking of which, I was on a roll yesterday so keep an eye out for a bonus chapter tomorrow or Sunday (: I'm just getting started with these two!
> 
> feedback appreciated!


	9. Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short bonus chap! happy Saturday :)

Hidden Middle was—different. 

There were some painless changes. Naruto walked to school alone now that Sasuke had morning study hall, but he didn’t mind the solace. He rarely had time to himself, and the mornings were something sweet in their silence. It was just him and the pavement, rushing off to first period alone.

Naruto didn’t mind all the switching class either. He liked being able to stretch his legs. He liked taking time at his locker, passing his friends in the halls. He liked being around different people all the time. He liked making new friends, like Gaara in his history class, and meeting tons of teachers. 

There were some changes that didn’t hurt. But then there were some that _did,_ and Naruto didn’t know what to make of those.

It wasn’t a physical pain. Well, maybe it was, but you couldn’t _see_ it. Or at least he hoped no one else could.

Naruto didn’t know when everything had started. It was like the way hair grows every day, slow and unnoticeable until it’s hanging in your eyes. He hadn’t realized what had become of himself until he woke up and suddenly found things unignorable. 

The change went like this:

Standing in the locker room and hearing other guys talk about _girls._ About how soft and supple they are, about parts that Naruto noticed but hadn’t latched onto the way the other guys had. About things like _going in for the kill_ and _making a move._ About girlfriends.

“I don’t know how Uchiha doesn’t have one already,” a classmate said once. “He could have anyone he wants and he doesn’t do jack fuckin' shit.”

“Lucky bastard,” they all agreed. The pain in Naruto’s chest sparked white-hot.

He’d come to terms with this, he thought. Back when he argued with Ino. He’d known that coming to Hidden Middle would give Sasuke the opportunity to _branch out,_ to match up the way their peers were so desperate to. He’d expected the way girls peeked at him and fluttered their eyelashes when he walked by. He’d known it would happen.

But why did the thought of Sasuke being with someone still _bother_ him? And what’s more— 

“What about you?” someone asked. “Uzumaki. Do _you_ have your eye on any one? What about Haruno?”

He laughed, the sound empty in his ears. “No way,” he said. “Never Sakura. She’s like a sister, man. That’d be weird as hell.”

“But you’d do it, right? Come on. She’s cute.”

“Nah,” Naruto said. And maybe it sounded like he meant _no, not Sakura_ when he really meant _no, nobody at all._

He’d tried. He’d tried looking at girls the way the other guys did. Imagining them the way other guys did. He’d tried following their shape, their movements, the things about them that titillated his friends. 

But nothing. Nobody. Naruto liked people, sure, but he wasn’t _caught_ on anyone the way he thought he maybe ought to be. He didn’t double-take, or sneak peeks, or fantasize. He was just..

 _Am I broken?_ He wondered, flopping back in the treehouse. It was Saturday, his one day where he had Sasuke all to himself, but it hadn’t been a comfort. _What’s up with me?_

“Something’s wrong.”

He flinched. “What?”

“You’re too quiet.” Sasuke shifted, bumping elbows. They were close enough for Naruto to smell his shampoo and deodorant, something spicy and clean. Their sides were already brushing all over; now Sasuke was close enough to touch and _press._ “What’s wrong?”

Naruto stared upwards. He sucked in a sharp breath.

 _I think something’s wrong,_ he didn’t say. 

_I’m afraid of you leaving me,_ he held inside. 

And then, the most ugly of all: _I don’t want to share you with anyone._

“Do you like anyone?” he blurted instead.

The moment stretched. The sun had set some time before; the sky bled fire and gold, fading light spilling through the window. The wind picked up outside and goosebumps rippled under Naruto’s sweater. He didn’t dare look at Sasuke now.

“Why?” Sasuke asked, after a silence.

Naruto’s heart sank. “So you do.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t _didn’t_ say that.”

“Idiot,” Sasuke huffed. He pressed closer, their sides a line of heat. Too warm—but Naruto wouldn’t pull away. “If I liked someone, don’t you think you’d know already?”

“I don’t know,” Naruto admitted. “Sometimes I don’t know _what_ you’re thinking.”

Sasuke rolled onto his side. Naruto tilted his head. Their eyes met, barely far apart enough to focus. Naruto could count all of Sasuke’s long eyelashes. He didn’t dare breathe.

“No,” Sasuke murmured. “I don’t have anyone.”

And unbidden, unthinking, Naruto replied. “You have me.”

They didn’t blink. Sasuke’s breathing fanned over his face, warm and light. The heat brushed Naruto’s mouth, and suddenly something _ticked_ in Naruto’s brain, a horribly bright and vivid sound loud enough to make everything rush to the surface inside of him. 

_Oh,_ he thought. Oh. 

And then, _oh God._

“Yeah,” Sasuke said, smiling. His eyes crinkled, barely reflecting the outside light, and Naruto felt himself staring into them as if for the first time all over again. His heart pounded a mile a minute, fast and hot, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away. 

Now, as always, he was spellbound. By Sasuke.

Fear paralyzed him. He didn’t know what this was—what _was_ this? _—_ but he suddenly couldn’t bear being so close. He sat up. “I’m gonna be late for dinner.”

Sasuke frowned, propping his head up with one arm. “Since when do you care?”

Naruto twitched. He crammed his fingers in his pockets and prayed Sasuke wouldn’t notice him trembling. “Iruka’s making ramen,” he lied. “If I’m late he might eat everything.”

It was a shitty lie. Naruto knew it; he saw it in the pinch of Sasuke’s mouth, the furrow of his brow. God, even frowning Sasuke was— 

_No,_ he thought frantically. _Not here. Not_ now.

“I’ll see you at school,” he mumbled and stumbled down the ladder, away as fast as he could.

Dinner was hamburger helper. Naruto barely tasted his food, eating fast in hopes of escaping his thoughts. That single _tick_ in his brain echoed with every second, every breath; he shied from the memory of Sasuke’s eyelashes, his heat on his mouth, the warmth of his side.

 _What was I thinking?_ He showered before bed. _What came over me?_ He slid into pajamas.

Naruto crawled into bed utterly numb. The ceiling offered no answers; he lay in his room’s darkness, woodenly eyeing the second-story window across the fence.   
  
_Why,_ he thought miserably, _did I think of kissing him?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tune in next Friday for Gay Crisis: The Episode!


	10. A Tiny, Teensy Crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote like half of this today during the kids' recess LMAO I'm sorry if there are any mistakes!

_ Don’t panic,  _ half of Naruto’s brain reasoned. _ Maybe everyone has these thoughts.  _

_ Yeah right,  _ the other half wailed.  _ If that were true, then why hasn’t anyone said anything?! _

_ Kiba and Hinata are proof!  _ The first half tried. 

_ Yeah,  _ the other half huffed.  _ And now they’re dating! _

“Oh my God,” he groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I’m  _ doomed.” _

It was Sunday morning. He’d hardly slept a wink the night before. His brain was a mess of nerves in spite of his heavy limbs and eyebags. He felt like hot garbage.

“It can’t be  _ that  _ bad,” Sakura reasoned. “I mean, you don’t look sick to me. And none of your limbs are broken. What’s the problem?”

Naruto peeked through his fingers. Sakura squinted back at him. She looked a little silly like that, all rumpled in her pajamas on the front porch, but it had been an  _ emergency  _ and Naruto didn’t dare go to Kiba for something like this. Kiba had the loosest lips second to Ino.

His heart thumped painfully. How did he broach a topic like this? Would Sakura even understand? Did girls not have thoughts about kissing people? He had no idea.

But he had to talk to  _ somebody.  _

“It’s Sasuke,” he said.

“Sasuke?” She raised an eyebrow. “What, is he mad at you again?”

Naruto plucked at a hole in his jeans. “No.”

“Are  _ you  _ mad at him?”

“No.”

She exhaled sharply through her nose. “Then what is it? You obviously are losing sleep over whatever it is. Spit it out or I’ll go back inside.”

Naruto tapped his thigh. His thoughts fled to the evening before—to long eyelashes and a face he knew as well as his own. To his  _ urge,  _ unbidden and unprompted. 

“Have you ever had weird thoughts about a friend?” he asked hesitantly. 

Sakura pursed her lips. “I guess. What kind of weird are we talking? Gross weird?”

Naruto wriggled. “Something like that.”

“Well sure,” she said. “I had to watch you go through a booger-eating phase. Anyone would think gross-weird thoughts about that.”

“Sakura! That’s  _ not  _ helpful!” 

“Then tell me exactly what it is! I can’t help you if you won’t tell me your problems, Naruto.” 

Naruto plucked at the porch hedge with shaky hands. He’d been up all night trying to understand what he’d felt, rolling around in his feelings for hours. It hadn’t done much for him—even Naruto could admit when he needed advice—but an idea had slowly started to shape itself from that tick he’d felt.

The admiration. The warmth within him from just  _ thinking  _ about Sasuke; the glow from being beside him. Of course he liked Sasuke a lot. He had to, for the guy to be his best friend. His  _ first  _ friend.

But the longing. The ache, hot where his heart beat, for something unknown. And then there was the way he wanted to be near him so much, the way he couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to lean in, to  _ close  _ that tiny distance between them— 

Naruto didn’t quite  _ know _ , but he had a feeling. 

“Have you ever liked anybody?” he murmured.

Sakura paused. Her fingers strayed to a lock of hair, twisting it around one finger. Her eyes trailed from Naruto to the sky above, a mess of November morning clouds.

“Yeah,” she admitted softly. “It hurts a little, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t say  _ I  _ did—”

“But that’s what it is, right?” She looked him in the eye. “That’s why you’re so nervous. Asking about  _ weird thoughts.  _ And it’s someone from our group, right?” Her mouth thinned. “You look like I did when I..” 

Naruto waited for her to finish, but she didn’t. He shifted to tug a whole twig off the hedge, snapping the little branches in a steady, rhythmic motion. 

“Maybe,” he said finally, when the twig was nothing but pieces. “I don’t know.”

“You either know or you don’t, Naruto.”

“I don’t  _ know!”  _ he repeated. “I just— it just happened but I haven’t been able to stop  _ thinking  _ about it, and I don’t know what it means because it’s finally what everyone’s been talking about but it’s for the  _ wrong people  _ and I don’t know if I’m broken or  _ what  _ but I had to tell somebody. And I know you’re pissed because I got you up early on a Sunday but if I held onto this for any longer I was going to fucking  _ explode,  _ Sakura, I just—” He bit down on his lip, breathing sharply. “I just.. Don’t know.”

Aching chest; trembling fingers. A warm hand, red from the cold, reaching to brush his shoulder and grip his head. Naruto let himself be guided into Sakura’s lap, cheek pressed to her thigh. Even half-asleep she smelled the same as always, all cotton and soft flowers, and he breathed her in gratefully.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. Her fingers raked through his hair slowly, the way they had when they were little and lost to summer daze. “You’ll be okay. You’ll figure it out.”

“I just want things to be the way they were before,” he mumbled.

“I know,” Sakura said. “I’m sorry.”

Naruto closed his eyes.

* * *

The rest of the weekend fell into a haze. Naruto tore himself from his thoughts long enough to do his chores, but he caught himself slipping in spare moments. He found himself staring into space, thinking of everything; once, he nearly dropped a wet dish thinking of  _ him. _

_ What's wrong with me?  _

He hadn't wanted anything to change—and here he was, changing without even his own permission. Irony tasted bittersweet. 

Naruto felt Iruka's eyes on him the whole day. He was sure he looked strange, but he couldn't help his fumbling silence. This was  _ big,  _ perhaps the biggest change of all. 

_ What does this make me? _

Finally, over salmon and confetti rice, Iruka cornered him.

"Naruto," he said. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but I can see something's eating at you. Am I right?"

Naruto scraped through his fish. "Maybe," he mumbled. And then, because he knew he couldn’t fool Iruka even on a good day, “..Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I already did,” he admitted. “With Sakura. But..”

“Not Sasuke?”

His fingers tightened around his fork. “I can’t talk to him about this.”

Iruka eyed him quietly. “If you ever need advice, you know I’m here.”

“I know.”

“And you know I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.” 

Naruto bit his lip. He usually  _ loved  _ confetti rice, but he could hardly taste his food. He mechanically swallowed a few more bites before pushing his plate away. 

“Thanks for the food,” he mumbled, and scuttled off to the bathroom.

It wasn’t that he liked  _ all  _ boys. Of this Naruto was sure, because he didn’t have eyes for anyone else. Nobody caught his eye and held his gaze the way Sasuke did. Nobody could  _ compare.  _ Not that he ever even tried.

_ It’s always been him,  _ he thought miserably.  _ Even before this, it’s always just been him and me before everyone else. _

He didn’t want to fuck up what they had. Their lives together were easy and perfectly combined: walks to school, weekends in the yard, waving goodnight or slingshotting messages through their bedroom windows. Sasuke was the one at all his sleepovers, the person he confided everything to. He was his best friend.

But now, apparently, it wasn’t enough. Naruto had to go and be  _ greedy  _ about all this, had to get all  _ weird.  _

It wasn’t just a single passing thought anymore. It was as if that single  _ tick  _ had switched something on in Naruto’s brain—a thousand dots suddenly connecting, a hundred lights all turning on at once. 

_ He makes me so happy. I don’t want to share him. I don’t want anything to change. _

But it was too late. Once again, the world had changed around Naruto. All he could do now was hold on.

* * *

The next week was nerve-wracking. Naruto thanked all his lucky stars that he didn’t share any classes with Sasuke anymore; where Sasuke was placed in all honors subjects, Naruto took the regular classes. Their P.E. periods didn’t match up either. 

All that was left was lunch.

Hidden Middle was a nice school. The lockers were all painted green and shiny; the quad area was all paved brick and evergreen beds of foliage. This time of year the oaks had lost all their leaves, but the bushes still gleamed waxy and dark, and the lawn glimmered with fresh morning dew.

The quad was the center of  _ everything.  _ During lunchtime the entire area was overloaded with students: settled on benches, lying under the trees, sprawled across the lawn. 

The Hidden Leaves kids—because they  _ did  _ all still hang out and eat lunch together, even if Ino and Shikamaru complained sometimes about boys versus girls—had their own unofficial tree outside the English department. They’d all fall into a circle of sorts beneath its leaves, sharing chips here and grapes there. Sometimes Hinata even brought enough cookies for everyone.

It was there, beneath the willow oak, that Naruto and Sasuke met again.

“Hey,” Sakura greeted. She’d gotten to the willow first on Monday; her lunch spread out over her red skirt like a picnic blanket, hummus wraps and strawberries. Naruto plucked one out of her lunch. “How are you feeling today?”

Naruto plopped down with a shrug. “I haven’t seen him yet,” he admitted. “I’ve been avoiding my locker all day.”

“You can’t avoid him forever. You guys are next-door neighbors, Naruto.”

“I  _ know  _ that.” He huffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to do anything about it anyway. I decided.”

Sakura froze with her wrap halfway to her mouth. “You’re not?”

“No.” 

He hadn’t decided until that very moment, but really, what  _ could  _ Naruto do? Sasuke didn’t feel the same, and he didn’t want to change anything about what they had. It was better to just let his weird feelings die a quick death. It was easier that way.

He explained this reasoning to Sakura, but she still looked doubtful. “I don’t know, Naruto,” she said. “I feel like.. I mean, you know none of us would judge you, right? If you were..” 

“But it’s not  _ all  _ guys! It’s just  _ Sasuke!” _

“What’s just about me?”

Naruto froze. Sakura’s eyes widened; she crammed her wrap into her mouth. Sasuke moved around the tree to sit between them. 

“Oh,” Naruto mumbled weakly. “Hey.”

Sasuke ignored him. “What’s just about me?” He looked between them. “Sakura?”

“Nothing,” she said too quickly. They both cringed. “We’re just.. gossiping. It’s stuff you don’t care about.”

“Hm.” Sasuke snapped open his backpack, pulling out a small salad. He didn’t push further. 

Lunch was an uneasy affair. Naruto did his best to act completely natural, but his thoughts short-circuited every time Sasuke brushed up against him. He felt like a fish caught on two lines: one pulling him towards Sasuke, unable to resist, and another pulling him to run and gain distance so he could  _ breathe.  _

He hoped that nobody would say anything. Once or twice he caught Shikamaru looking at him, but he never called Naruto out. Naruto plucked at his food and threw himself into conversation until the bell rang. He’d hardly touched it.

“Naruto.” 

He stilled, heart launching towards mac-speed. The safety of their friend group was walking away, swept with other students towards the buildings. Sakura cast a worried backward glance but didn’t stop. 

“Yeah?”

“Look at me.”

Naruto slowly turned.

Sasuke stared back at him. Beneath the willow, sunlight dappled him in long, uneven inky strokes. His clothes were rumpled from sitting in the grass and his hair was sticking up strangely, but he was  _ Sasuke  _ and there was nobody else Naruto liked looking at more. 

He felt sick—a keen swooping in his gut, his palms sweating. Unbidden, a flush rose up his chest. But Naruto knew better than to look away.

_ What,  _ he wondered,  _ does he see when he looks at  _ me?

“You’d be better off speaking your mind,” Sasuke said.

A thousand words swelled in his chest. Naruto’s lips parted; his throat squeezed around everything he wanted but couldn’t say. He felt like he was choking.

Sasuke didn’t want him like that. He _knew_ he didn't; he was sure of it. Sasuke didn’t need him messing things up by being selfish like this. It was better to hold it in until his feelings went away—better to stay the way they’d always been. 

An emptiness opened up somewhere within him, dark and aching. Naruto closed his mouth and swallowed. The unspoken words were poison, sliding  _ down, down, down.  _

“No,” he said. “Not this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Naruto's thinking makes sense. I can explain it further if someone would like it, but.. yeah. I know some people like to write him speaking his mind on Everything Immediately, but I thought it would fit the grounds I've already laid more if I had him hold onto this a little longer. Not to worry, though, that angst tag is mild for a reason :')
> 
> thank you so much to everyone who's been reading and commenting, by the way. I started the show back in January (just got to that episode where Sakura freaking pumps Naruto's heart by hand?!?) and I was a little nervous about writing something because it usually means I'm invested in a series longterm.. but I just couldn't help myself. I really didn't think anyone would read this, so thank you again for all of your reading and commentary! it makes my weekends!
> 
> edit: in prep for my new supernatural sns fic, you can check lil teasers I'm dropping on my [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)!


	11. Do I Or Don't I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for missing last week's update - I'm setting up the supernatural AU to start right as this one is ending! I shouldn't miss future Fridays though, no worries.
> 
> thank you for your patience!

Coming to terms with liking Sasuke was one thing. Naruto supposed he could live with the ache; it was easier than baring himself and hurting even further. He’d be happy watching Sasuke the way he always had, waiting for his feelings to pass.

It was easy, liking Sasuke. It was another thing entirely to avoid him catching on.

The week turned into a minefield of encounters: at lunchtime, through their bedroom windows, eyes meeting as they passed each other’s lockers. Naruto knew he was an obvious blusher. He could only hope his red face escaped Sasuke’s acute perception.

But acting normal was easier said than done. What  _ was  _ normal, when Naruto was suddenly aware of how his eyes lingered on Sasuke? On how they touched constantly, when Sasuke touched no one else?

Naruto was dying inside. Every day he cursed himself and his warm face; every night he tossed and turned with a stomach full of butterflies. 

_ Let it die a quick death,  _ he’d told himself, but his feelings felt like they’d live  _ forever. _

By Thursday, Kakashi had apparently had enough.

“That’s it,” he said. He lowered his novel, squinting at Naruto over the cover. “You’re starting to annoy me.”

Naruto stiffened. “What?”

“You,” Kakashi elaborated. He sat there, waiting.

Naruto looked down at himself. The papers he’d been grading all looked right. His pen hadn’t exploded again or anything. He didn’t think he smelled, either. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve sighed ten times in the past five minutes,” Kakashi pointed out. “Nobody can read with that kind of noise.”

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” His brow furrowed. “What’s got you in a bunch? You might as well tell me; you’re not going to get anything done quietly until you do.”

Naruto could already feel his traitorous face reddening. “Me? But you don’t really.. I, uh—”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

“It’s nothing you’d be interested in,” Naruto promised. “Just— just middle school stuff.”

“Believe it or not, I  _ was  _ your age once.”

“Yeah, a billion years ago.”

Kakashi rolled his eyes. “Are you going to let me play therapist or what? I’m offering just this once. You could do with some of my advice, coming from how miserable you sound.”

Naruto scowled and sunk further into his chair. “Yeah, well. Figuring out you might like your best friend is miserable stuff.”

Silence stretched between them. Naruto traced old graffiti on the desk, outlining old pen scores, and chewed his lip. He could practically hear the gears turning in Kakashi’s brain. 

“Ah,” the teacher finally sighed. “So it’s young love after all.”

Naruto shot straight up. “Are you  _ mocking  _ me?”

“I’m reminiscing. Hold it.” Kakashi held up a hand. His eyes slid skyward, lost in some memory, and he nodded. “Okay. Reminiscing over. Yeah, that sounds like a mess.”

“It’s horrible,” Naruto agreed, slumping again. “I can’t tell him, either. It’d ruin  _ everything.” _

Kakashi rested his cheek on one hand. “Really?”

“Well, sure. We’ve been close for forever. I wouldn’t want..” Naruto swallowed, voice softening, “..anything to change.”

“But it sounds like you’re pretty miserable,” Kakashi pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be better to say something instead of holding it in? How do you know for sure that he’ll say no?”

“Because! He’s never said anything.”

“You haven’t either, by the sound of things.”

“But that’s different,” Naruto protested. “Sasuke’s the kind of guy to go all in on things like these. He’s not afraid of being himself— of being  _ honest.  _ I’d like to think I’m that way, but I really just..” He flopped over, burying his hot cheeks in his hands. “I don’t want to lose him, you know? What if things get all  _ weird?  _ Hell, they’re  _ already  _ weird!”

Kakashi hummed. “You know,” he said, “this sounds a whole lot like this one novel I’ve read recently. There were these two best friends who had known each other for years. Practically inseparable. But then they start developing feelings and..” He sighed dreamily. 

Naruto lifted his head, hesitant. “What happened to them?”

“Oh, in the end? They confessed in the pouring rain. It was cute.” Kakashi leaned back in his seat, nodding to himself. “Cute.”

“Some help you are.” Naruto rolled his eyes. “That’d never happen to me.”

“Maybe not,” Kakashi agreed. “But I suppose you’ll never know until you try, right?”

* * *

It'd almost been a whole week since the start of Naruto's disaster. Friday evening was seasonably brisk, cold enough for Iruka to turn on the heater and set cider over the stove. Appley, spiced richness wafted through the bungalow, pooling in Naruto's room and making his stomach growl. 

"Dinner's ready soon," Iruka said from the doorway. "Come set the table please."

"Coming," Naruto replied absently. 

Iruka eyed him. He probably looked like a right mess: sprawled spread-eagle across his bed, eyes on the ceiling, fingers throwing and catching a tennis ball. 

Iruka stepped quietly into the room. "How was your week?" 

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Yep." 

Iruka sat down in his desk chair. From there, Naruto knew, he had a perfect view of Sasuke's bedroom window. He wondered if the guy was home from practice yet.

"Haven't heard you talk about Sasuke all week," Iruka commented. It was as if he could read Naruto’s mind—sometimes he was positive his dad could. "Is everything alright between you two?"

Naruto's fingers tightened around the ball. He exhaled. "Same as always."

Iruka’s brow furrowed. "Then why..?"

“It’s.. um.” God, when would he stop blushing? Naruto felt like his face was going to melt off. “Something’s come up.”

Iruka waited.

“It’s..” Why was it so much harder to tell Iruka? He loved his dad; he  _ wanted  _ to tell him. But if he told Iruka, then this thing with Sasuke would really be inevitable. He wouldn’t be able to lie about how he felt to  _ anybody. _

“It’s Sasuke,” he finally admitted. “Things have been getting weird with him, and it’s all my fault because I just, I don’t know, I see him  _ differently  _ now and I tried so hard not to and I’ve been avoiding him all week because I don’t want him to know and be disappointed, but I feel even worse like this and I  _ know  _ he can tell something’s wrong—” 

“Hold on.” Iruka shuffled close. When had he sat down? “Take a deep breath, Naruto.”

“I— I just—”

“Come on. Breathe with me.”

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes burned; he hated how tight his chest felt, like all of his feelings wanted to fizz and bubble out. He was a soda shaken for far too long, ready to burst, and it hadn’t even been a week since he’d looked into Sasuke’s eyes and  _ known.  _

Was he really going to be able to hold everything in?

“I’m sorry,” he finally mumbled.

“Don’t be,” Iruka said. “If anything, I should be the one apologizing. You’ve been holding onto this and it’s hurting you.”

They sat in silence for a while. Naruto closed his eyes, savoring Iruka’s warmth beside him. Even with his heart’s tortuous twisting, the relief of finally telling his dad was like a cool water over his skin. He sighed. 

“I decided I wouldn’t tell him,” Naruto told Iruka. “I don’t want to make a mistake.”

“If that’s your choice.” Iruka paused. “But if you want my opinion.. If you feel really strongly about this, I think it’s more of a mistake to hold it in. You know Sasuke wouldn’t give up your friendship for anything.”

“I know.”

“You know he loves you, right?”

Naruto flushed scarlet.  _ “Dad.” _

“What? He does. Even if it’s not the same way as you’d like, he does. He’ll listen to you, no matter how hard it is for you to say something. I know he will. That’s what he’s best at, right?”

“Yeah.. I guess you’re right.” Naruto’s mouth quirked up. “He is my best friend, after all.”

“That’s right,” Iruka said. “He always has been, hasn’t he?”

Naruto nodded. “Always. Ever since..”

_ The first day beneath the willow tree.. _

Naruto rolled onto his side. His bedroom was dimly lit; in the half-light, the bright windows of Sasuke’s home gleamed like stars through the bushes. He stared, unseeing, and felt something in his chest ease.

_ He would never let me down. Because he’s.. _

Of course. Sasuke was his best friend; they’d gone through  _ everything  _ together. Maybe that’s what would make this harder, but it was also what assuaged Naruto’s fear of losing him.

Even if he couldn’t have Sasuke quite the way he wanted to, they would always be best friends.

“Okay,” he finally said. “I think I’m ready to set the table.”

Iruka smiled. 

* * *

“You seem different today.”

Naruto looked up from petting Mochi. “You think?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke hummed. He leaned back on his bed, dark eyes watching Naruto from across the room. The attention made Naruto’s stomach fill with butterflies.

“I feel different,” Naruto replied honestly. He huffed, smiling helplessly. “It’s a relief.”

“Hn.”

The afternoon had stretched peaceably between them. Yeah, it sucked feeling that constant chest ache, but Naruto let himself savor the thrill of sitting so close to Sasuke anyway. He was the only one who could—the only one Sasuke always held onto, tight and precious.

_ Always. _

“Are you ever going to tell me?” Sasuke asked. “What it was.”

“Maybe,” Naruto said. He smiled down at Mochi, lavishing his fingers through her fur. “But not yet.”

This was his to hold onto, he decided. Even if Sasuke wouldn’t get weird about it, he wanted to hold the truth close to his chest. Just for a little longer.

For now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone ready for another timeskip? (: 
> 
> get sneak peeks on future updates (or come talk about naruto? i don't have anyone to talk with about how much i love it :( ) over at [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)
> 
> as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!


	12. Seashells In Our Pockets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter (':

The ocean: impossibly big and beautifully blue. A treasure chest of a billion wonders. The world’s biggest bathtub.

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. Salty brine clung to the breeze, tingling on his tongue; he ran his fingers through his hair and felt its newfound coarseness. The wind was cold but clean, and he found he liked the way it cut through his jacket. He felt  _ awake. _

Even more so with Sasuke at his side. He turned, unable to keep his smile from cracking wide, and took in his best friend’s similarly ruffled appearance. 

They’d both grown quite a bit over the past year. Naruto was finally hitting the growth spurt he’d longed for—much to Iruka’s chagrin, what with how he burned through food and clothes—and Sasuke was close to follow. Now, on the cusp of their last junior high trimester, they’d grown nearly four inches. It was as if some deity had reached down and stretched them out like taffy.

Naruto liked his new height. He liked the way he could hold things over Sakura now (before suffering a punch to the gut), or how he could jump and hook his fingers over doorways. He liked being able to nearly look Iruka in the eye when they stood, like a _ real _ adult.

But where Naruto’s height underscored his awkwardness, growing only seemed to flatter Sasuke. He turned heads in the hallways now; in public, Naruto was nothing more than a satellite off Sasuke’s unconscious charisma. Girls couldn’t keep their eyes off of him—guys couldn’t seem to either. The ending result was an almost daunting amount of attention on their friendship, eyes trailing their every public move together.

Naruto understood. Sasuke seemed to be skipping the awkward teen phase almost entirely. He didn’t need braces, and his skin was flawless and soft-looking. His voice had recently lowered into a subtle, smooth rasp that tickled Naruto’s ears. His handsomeness shocked Naruto every time laid eyes on him—and that was truly a feat, considering the amount of time they spent together.

But even through all this, Sasuke remained the same. Stalwart. He almost seemed oblivious to the attention, and Naruto loved him even more for it.

One dark eyebrow lifted. “What’re you staring at?”

Naruto caught his bottom lip between his teeth. “Nothing,” he singsonged, looking away. Sasuke huffed beside him but didn’t press the issue.

The beach day had been Iruka’s idea. Winter wasn’t exactly tourist season, but the ocean  _ was  _ only a short drive away, and Naruto’s dad had been hankering for fresh chowder all week. All it had taken was Sasuke hanging out one Friday when Iruka mentioned going, and that was that. 

Naruto couldn’t complain. He loved the smell of the sea, the feel of sand between his toes. He loved the boardwalk and all the food stands dotted along the pier. 

Most of all, he loved sharing the peace with his two favorite people.

“We have several options,” Iruka announced. “We can check out the shops along the boardwalk. There’s also the old arcade if you boys are interested.  _ Or,  _ if you want, we can start by going straight to the sand!” He beamed. “I wouldn’t mind bringing home some souvenirs, too.”

Naruto grinned. “And chowder?”

“And chowder,” his dad agreed. 

“Well,” Sasuke said. “Where would  _ you  _ like to start?”

Iruka grinned devilishly.

* * *

“Okay, okay. I know we said losers would treat winners.. But did you  _ really  _ have to go and pick the one game you’re unbeatable at?”

Iruka winked. “Don’t be a sore loser.”

“I’m  _ not!  _ You’re just some sort of freaky savant!”

“He’s actually right,” Sasuke said. “You  _ are  _ freakishly good. Did you plan this?”

“Maybe.” Iruka gave them a sly look. “But hey, don’t I deserve a treat for once? I’ve been funding your stomachs for years!”

Naruto glared at the pinball machine. Iruka had let the two of them go first, claiming that he could beat any score they got. Sure, Naruto wasn’t very good, but he’d really thought Sasuke was gonna bag a win.

But then.  _ Then  _ Iruka had revealed how he’d used to spend his childhood weekends at the local arcade. He’d swept them both onto their asses within minutes. He was still on his first quarter!

“Maybe you’ll beat me in something else,” Iruka said.

“Maybe pigs will fly,” Naruto grumbled, but his mood couldn’t stay down for long. 

Between the countless old-fashioned machines and the new DDR mats, the boardwalk’s arcade was absolutely chock-full of colors and sounds. Naruto didn’t mind the uneven concrete; he hardly felt the cold air coming in from outside, or the grease from countless fingers on the game controls. The smell of popcorn and candy hung thick, and the neon lights illuminating Sasuke’s face made him almost impossible to look away from. Everything was  _ perfect. _

“I challenge you!” Naruto’s arms flung towards the DDR machine. “A dance— to the  _ death!” _

“No way,” Sasuke sniffed. “You can jump around by yourself.”

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. He leaned in, ignoring how good Sasuke smelled, and gave him  _ the look.  _ “What,” he breathed. “Are you.. _c_ _ hicken?” _

Sasuke’s eyes snapped back to his. Naruto held back his triumphant grin; he knew he had him. No matter how old Sasuke got, he  _ always  _ fell for the same trick.

“Just one game,” he said, right on cue. Sasuke shoved past Naruto with his head held high.  _ “Just one.  _ Because I have to show you how much you  _ suck.” _

But then one game became two (“No, idiot, I  _ won’t  _ dance to Caramelldansen! What are you doing?!”) and then three to break their tie.

Naruto exhaled sharply. He was no dancing machine—if anything, he was more of a dancing  _ stump— _ and when they’d dressed for the beach, they’d worn jeans and flannels to ward off the chill. Now, crammed in the stuffy arcade, Naruto could feel sweat building between his shoulders and under his arms. Sasuke had long thrown off his jacket; his temples gleamed, eyes blazing with fierce light. 

“Give up already!” Sasuke hissed. “I’m going to win and you know it!”

“It’s not over until it’s over,” Naruto puffed.  _ In The Navy  _ blared over the loudspeakers.

Naruto was good at some games. He thought himself a master at charades, and he was second to Kiba in Mario Kart on a good day. Games concerning full-body coordination, though? Oh, man.

_ MISS! MISS! MISS!  _ the screen flashed. Naruto’s shoulders slumped as he came to a stop. What a way to end it all.

“There!” Sasuke crowed. He flicked sweat away, whirling to flash a smirk.  _ “Loser.” _

“Can it,” Naruto snapped, but he couldn’t stay bitter. Not when Sasuke was smiling like that, pleased as a peach. His cheeks were visibly pink even beneath the wild lighting, his shirt clinging to broad shoulders and an elegant collarbone. Naruto feasted his eyes quietly, helplessly charmed.

Every day with Sasuke was a battle. Naruto had hoped his fascination would dissolve with time, but the months only seemed to strengthen it. He found himself unable to look away—unable to gain the distance he needed for his feelings to die.

He was trapped in love with his best friend, but _oh,_ what a sweet trap it was. 

“I’m fucking sweating,” Sasuke complained. “Let's get out of here.”

The air outside was wonderfully crisp. They crossed the street and stripped off their shoes and socks, sinking toes into cool sand. Naruto walked until he could see the sheen of wet sand and promptly flopped onto the ground. Soft, foamy waves trailed up to tickle his toes.

“Idiot,” Sasuke said. “What if you get your pants wet?”

“Then I’ll cool down faster,” Naruto replied, grinning. Sasuke rolled his eyes, huffing loudly, and sat down beside him.

This close to the water, all Naruto could sense was  _ ocean.  _ The world ahead of them glittered blue and grey, white-caps dancing over the tips of crystalline waves. Naruto had never seen clouds so perfectly pastel—almost as if they’d been painted onto the heavens—and the seagulls flying beneath them seemed to glide on nothing at all. The world was breathtaking, a symphony of rushing water and crying gulls, and Naruto’s heart  _ soared. _

He turned to Sasuke, ready to say  _ something,  _ but the words died on his lips. Sasuke was already looking back at him with the most peculiar expression, lips parted and dark eyes wide.

Naruto grinned with all of his teeth. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Sasuke blinked, startled. He looked away out into the blue.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “It is.”

They savored the sensations in brief silence. Naruto spread his limbs, digging his toes into wet sand. Sand crabs tickled at him every time the waves lapped over his ankles; his fingernails scraped over shell fragments, plucking them from the earth like miniature treasures. 

He gathered several in his palm and flung them at Sasuke.

“Come on,” he said, ignoring Sasuke’s scowl. “Let’s take a walk while we wait for Iruka. I wanna get more shells.”

Some people didn’t like wet sand between their toes. Naruto was definitely not one of those people. He hopped from wave to wave, savoring the squish and squelch under his feet. Sasuke followed along patiently. He almost seemed afraid of stepping on the burrowing sand crabs.

Pastel pink fragments; curved white bells. Sasuke plucked a worn remnant of a brick to add to their collection. Their pockets jingled as if full of coins—which, in a sense, they almost were. Sasuke even found a sand dollar.

“Wow.” He rinsed it under an incoming wash. “Look, it’s perfectly intact.”

They marveled it for a moment. Unbidden, Naruto’s eyes flickered up to Sasuke’s face. He seemed so satisfied by this little treasure, lips gently curving upwards, that Naruto’s heart pinched. God, he was beautiful.

He hastily looked away.  _ Cool your jets, lover boy. _

Sasuke was looking at him when he peeked back. Stray hairs framed his face, eyelashes gleaming with the setting sun. He had that faraway look like he was thinking again. 

“What are you thinking about?” Naruto asked quietly. 

Sasuke shook his head, looking away. “Nothing.”

They moved on. The shoreline scooped like a crescent moon—miles of sand hugging the land’s curvature. They ended up walking from the pier end of the shore to the boardwalk’s end and back again. 

“Where is Iruka?” Naruto wondered aloud. “I haven’t even gotten a text from him. Isn’t that kinda weird?”

“No,” Sasuke said. “He’s like you.”

“What does  _ that  _ mean?”

Sasuke’s eyebrow lifted. “It means,” he said, “that he probably got excited about something. Look, he’s coming this way right now.”

So he was. Iruka was practically pink, all toothy smile and bright eyes. Naruto felt himself relax marginally— but then he got a good look at who was trailing behind.

_ What the fuck. _

He lifted a shaking finger. “Is that who I think that is?”

“That depends. Who are you thinking of?” 

“Who  _ else,”  _ he hissed back. “We only know one guy with hair like that!”

“Oh, Naruto!” Iruka gushed. “You’ll never guess who I ran into when I was putting in our name.” He waved a hand between the two of them. “Your English teacher!”

“Actually,” Kakashi-sensei said, “he volunteers for me several times a week, too.”

“Oh!” Iruka beamed even brighter. Naruto almost felt bad for how mortified he must look right now. “How nice! Naruto didn’t tell me he was doing that.”

“I guess I forgot,” he muttered. “Hey, Kakashi-sensei.”

“Just Kakashi is fine. We’re miles away from school right now.”

“..Right.”

“I was thinking,” Iruka said, “that he could join us for lunch. What do you think? The more the merrier, right?”

Naruto didn’t dare disagree. “Something like that,” he replied weakly. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The rest of the afternoon went—surprisingly well? Naruto wasn’t sure what he’d feared, but Kakashi blended into the conversation seamlessly. His dry wit was a comfortable addition; he made Iruka laugh, and even tugged a smile out of Sasuke. 

The chowder was rich and fresh. The tea was hot and smooth. Naruto laughed and ate, comfortably conscious of Sasuke’s heat at his side, and wished for the day to stretch just a little longer.

They left the restaurant with warm, full bellies and buzzing lips from nonstop chatter. The sun had begun its steady descent into the horizon, turning frosty clouds into shades of pink and purple and yellow that reflected on the water. Iruka stopped, spellbound by the vividness of it all, and the rest of them fell into step.

“What a beautiful sunset,” Iruka sighed. Kakashi hummed his agreement, hands jammed in his pockets. 

“It reminds me of cotton candy,” Naruto said. “Lemon and bubblegum and grape..”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I think that’s just your dessert stomach talking.”

“Heh. Maybe.”

They walked to the boardwalk’s sweet shop—Iruka’s prize pick—and bought enough saltwater taffy flavors to fill half a paper bag. Naruto and Sasuke dared each other to try the spicy sample (it tasted horrible) and Kakashi, to their horror, ate four at once.

He didn’t even  _ blink  _ before swallowing. It was honestly sorta terrifying.

Sunset had fully settled over the ocean by the time they emerged. Naruto stood between Iruka and Sasuke and marveled the sight of the sun’s rest: a perfect, orange circle barely brushing the blue-grey horizon.

And then, to the cries of gulls and crashing waves, the world fell into darkness. The stars emerged, twinkling brightly. 

Naruto clutched his candy bag close to chest. “I wish today didn’t have to end,” he murmured. Sasuke nodded quietly.

“We could always come back, though,” he said. Naruto smiled.

“Yeah,” he agreed. "Let's do it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like my personal love for the ocean was kinda obvious here.. oops? I also dropped a few things in here... hmhmhm (:  
> as always, feedback is GREATLY appreciated! please let me know your thoughts - they really do inspire me to give you guys more! 
> 
> get updates on WIP progress or talk to me on my tumblr


	13. Becoming Something More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who caught the flu for 2 weeks?? yeah.

The final Friday began amidst clouds and early-morning dew. Naruto rolled out of bed covered in goosebumps and slammed his bedroom window shut with a decisive _snap._ Through it he could see Sasuke’s bedroom already lit, shadows moving around along the walls. Never mind that Naruto had made a special effort to get up early today, Sasuke was _still_ going to show him up.

 _Some things never change,_ he thought, and smiled to himself.

Worried about sleeping in— a real concern, considering how many times he’d been late recently— Naruto had planned his outfit the night before. As he jumped into his khakis and smoothed his jacket, however, Naruto found himself with the exact _opposite_ problem: frantic excitement had made him a half hour early with nothing to do. 

Iruka poked his head in. “Ready so soon?” He’d gotten a substitute teacher just for today—a planned vacation, if one could call it that.

Naruto’s junior high graduation.

Naruto looked at his reflection. No matter how much Sakura railed on him, he’d never be able to pass up his favorite orange button-down. He beamed at himself.

“Had to be,” he said. “”Sasuke said he’d ditch me if I was late.”

“He’s got your number,” Iruka laughed. He was already dressed too, smoothing out his collar. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I was gonna grab something on my way out.”

“Good, good.”

The doorbell rang right on cue. Naruto jumped to his feet, relieved—for once—that Sasuke was such a freak about being early. He didn’t know what else to do with himself.

“That’ll be him,” he said. “See you at ten?”

“I’ll be in the front row,” Iruka promised. He smiled, smoothing one hand over Naruto’s hair. “I’m so proud of you.” 

Naruto looked up into his father’s face. Maybe they didn’t look anything alike, or share any blood, but everything under this roof was _theirs—_ a communal wealth, a shared strength. 

He owed everything to Iruka.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Dad,” he said. And he knew it was true.

* * *

They’d spent the last three school days practicing. Naruto knew what to do; he knew where to stand, when to walk across the stage, even which hand to shake with. They’d _practiced._

Practicing was nothing compared to the real thing.

They’d already sat for an hour on stage. The student body president’s speech was a classic, all about bright futures and promising horizons, and Naruto could hardly sit still. He could see Iruka right there in the second row next to Kakashi, smiling like the sun, and he wanted to just get up and _go_ to him. God, Naruto wanted to be done.

It was strange how much the past two years had changed him. He’d feared so much before. He’d feared _change—_ in himself, in his friends, in his life. He’d been scared of his own body, of his own feelings. But now..

Out of the corner of his eye Naruto could see Sasuke sitting uniform-straight. He’d slicked his dark hair back from his forehead with gel and donned a deep blue shirt that made him devastatingly handsome. He’d changed so much, blossoming (really, there was no other word for it) into a closer version of who he was meant to be. 

But even with all the growing Sasuke had done, there were still little things Naruto drew comfort in: the way he picked at his cuffs, the way his face relaxed into thoughtful blankness. No matter how much they appeared to be different, some things would always stay the same. 

Naruto could live with the little things. He was ready for something else—something _more._

“And now,” the principal boomed. “If the graduating class would please rise.”

They stood as one. The sun shone through clouds in perfect beams that illuminated the stage, filling the podium with light. Naruto slipped into line, ready to walk up and receive his diploma. 

_I can do this._ The first name boomed through the microphone, followed by a smattering of cheers and applause. _I’m ready._

He stepped forward.

* * *

“It’s pretty cool. Look, Sasuke! You can slide it open, like one of those BlackBerry phones!” He snapped it open and shut a few times to prove it.

“I thought BlackBerrys had a keyboard on the front,” Sasuke said. “That one’s sideways. And _orange.”_

“Well I said it’s _almost_ a Blackberry.”

Naruto snapped open his cell again. He loved the way the keys lit up when he did that, like something from _The Matrix_ . He snapped it shut again just to hear it _click._

The phone had been earned, of course. Iruka had been skeptical about giving Naruto his first phone since he had a penchant for “misplacing objects of value”, but after his final grades had come back above C level, Iruka admitted defeat and took him to the store.

Now Naruto was the proud owner of a fancy-shmancy keyboard phone, just like everyone else! And his was _orange._

“Sasuke,” he whined. “Gimme your phone number. I still don’t have it.”

“You got your phone yesterday. When would I have given it to you before then?”

“When I got home?”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “Give it.”

Naruto gleefully handed it over. 

The first few weeks of summer had been uneventful. Naruto wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but between Sakura visiting relatives and them attempting to “renovate” the treehouse (read: add a new rug since the old one was crusty) not much had been done. It was a whole lot of playing catch with Sasuke, doing chores around the house, and watching TV.

Which meant that _of course_ they had to try something crazy. 

“So hear me out,” he said, watching Sasuke punch in his contact info. “I’ve been thinking—”

“A first.”

“I’ve been _thinking,”_ he repeated loudly, “that the distance between our houses isn’t very big. You know?”

Sasuke didn’t even bother replying. He looked up, one eyebrow already cocked. 

“And there’s that huge tree between our windows.” Naruto leaned in and waggled his eyebrows. _“Now_ do you pick up what I’m putting down?”

“That we’re next-door neighbors?” Sasuke said dryly.

“Uh, _no.”_ He snatched back his phone and fiddled with the sliding mechanism. “That we could probably visit each other without even using the front door!”

It was an obvious idea— really, why hadn’t they thought of it sooner? Sure, it only took a few seconds for Naruto to run down Sasuke’s stairs and go across the lawns, but it was _precious seconds._ And if he was late, Iruka always chewed him out when he caught him coming in. This way they could bypass everything and made a quick jump for it.

Naruto was pretty sure he was a genius.

“I feel like,” Sasuke said slowly, “that would be a _really_ easy way to break a leg.” He paused. “Or both of them.”

"Oh, I get it." Naruto leered. "You're _chicken."_

Sasuke stiffened; Naruto held back a laugh. _Now_ he had him.

The tree technically stood on Sasuke's side of the fence, but its boughs spread over into Naruto's yard. The thicker branches stopped a foot away from either window, with leaves scraping Naruto's windowpane when it hadn't been trimmed in a while. It was the perfect size. 

Sasuke slid up his bedroom window. "So you're just going to jump?"

"Sure," Naruto replied easily. "It's not that far."

It wasn't, not really. He just had to be careful to spring right. If he didn't..

 _Don't think about it._ He took a deep breath and crawled up into the windowsill, thighs bunching on the lip. _If you don't think about it then it won't happen. Simple._

He eyed the distance. It really wasn't that far. 

He toed forward. He'd never noticed how big Sasuke's house was in comparison to the orange bungalow; now he was starting to get a good idea. He leaned over the edge and stared down at the grass. 

"Any day now," Sasuke said.

He glared back at him. "What, you wanna go first?"

"So you don't?" 

He had him there. 

Naruto straightened. Really, the distance wasn't _that_ far. He could do it. 

_Now._

He sprung forward before his fears could fail him. The moment of weightlessness struck terror in his gut— _holy fuck I'm_ in the air—before he smacked right into a clump of sharp branches. Bark bit into elbows and knees; a leaf smacked into his right eye.

_"Fuck!"_

He rolled, grasping blindly. Branches shuddered under him. His shirt snagged on something sharp and _stuck._

For a moment all he could hear was his breathing—loud, raspy pants—and the soft _shh_ of leaves. He didn’t dare move. He assessed all of limbs quietly.

No, he was definitely not dead.

Slowly, carefully, he lifted his head. He’d flopped like a whale and landed close to the trunk, fingers grappling around wide branches. He took forever to straighten himself and look back at Sasuke.

He grinned. They were separated by maybe two feet, but their eyes were perfectly level. 

“Holy shit!” He laughed. “It _worked.”_

Sasuke leaned out the window. “Move over,” he demanded. “I’m coming out—”

“What are you boys doing?”

They froze. Naruto dragged his eyes from Sasuke’s face over his shoulder, into the bedroom. 

Itachi stared back from the bedroom door. His lips parted at the sight of them, eyes assessing the gap and Naruto’s bedraggled appearance. Naruto smiled weakly.

“Don’t tell Mom,” Sasuke said. He turned around, practically blocking Naruto from his brother’s view. “If you do, I’ll tell her about K—”

“I wasn’t going to,” Itachi cut in mildly. He paused, fingers working around the doorknob. “I was just thinking that I’d better not catch you boys sneaking around this way now. It’s dangerous to jump trees at night.”

Sasuke turned rosy pink. “Who said we were going to do that?”

“No one,” Itachi said. “I just thought I’d remind you.”

There was an odd moment of silence. Sasuke’s cheeks flushed even darker, even as he scowled. Itachi looked tickled about _something;_ Naruto didn’t dare ask what it was.

“I’ll be careful,” he promised. “Don’t worry Itachi.”

Itachi’s lips twisted. “Good. Then I’ll let you boys back at it.” He slipped out without another word.

Sasuke turned back. Naruto eyeballed his pretty flush, wondering if he’d missed something big.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You look kinda sweaty Sas.”

Sasuke nearly turned purple. "Shut up," he muttered. "Move aside, I'm coming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit I was a little frustrated with this transition.. we're getting close to the end (2 chapters and an epilogue) and I'm trying to find a way to make everything close in a way that satisfies me. I think you guys are going to like the next couple bits (and next week's chapter is already mostly written! thanks past me lmao)
> 
> get WIP progress updates or talk to me on [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)


	14. A Halfway Warmth

High school was nothing like what Naruto imagined.

If he’d thought Hidden Middle was large, then the local high school was  _ gigantic.  _ He’d gone for orientation, choosing classes,  _ and  _ had a walk around campus with Iruka, but he still couldn’t wrap his head around it all. The first day of school had been a disaster.

“Three classes,” he admitted miserably. He swallowed another spoonful of pudding. “I was late to three classes today.”

Iruka winced. “Well, at least you know where they are now.” He took in Naruto’s sour expression. “Or.. maybe not.”

“You wouldn’t understand. That high school is big enough to hold the whole damn  _ city.” _

It took Naruto over twelve minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other. There were P.E. fields big enough to house the whole freshman class, and a massive track that smelled like old tires. There were even  _ animals  _ on campus.

Sure, they were Ag Department animals, but Naruto had never gone to school with  _ sheep  _ before.

He’d never had classes with Sasuke either, but now they suddenly shared one: fourth period P.E. The class had almost forty kids in it—enough that Naruto took his life in his hands every time he changed clothes. There was jostling and shouting and the rank stench of body odor and over-sharp deodorant everywhere, clinging to his nostrils for long after he left.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part of fourth period P.E—of  _ sharing  _ P.E. with Sasuke—was that their lockers were right next to each other.

Naruto didn’t think anything of the first week. They didn’t have to dress out then; they went straight from the halls to the blacktop to talk procedures and sport tryouts. But then.  _ Then  _ it was week two and everything changed.

Naruto had his pants halfway down. He was laughing about a story Sasuke was telling—something about his English teacher—and a perfect pun popped into his head. He turned to tell Sasuke and snapped his head back around so hard he got whiplash.

Oh  _ my god. Okay.  _

It wasn’t like he’d never seen Sasuke shirtless before. They’d been best friends for years; they changed thoughtlessly together, and swam together. Hell, they once had even shared a bathing-suit-in-the-bathtub moment. Naruto was no stranger to Sasuke’s body.

But this—seeing Sasuke’s flat stomach, the new, subtle definition of his arms—made something flip in his gut. Naruto knew Sasuke was growing up, but it wasn’t like he was prepared to see him in his  _ underwear. _

Naruto wrestled with the urge to hide or peek again.  _ Don’t make it weird,  _ he told himself sternly.  _ Just get dressed and get out. _

“You okay?” 

He jumped. “W-what?”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “You look like you’re going to throw up. What, afraid you’ll lose on the mile?”

Naruto peeked in his peripheral.  _ Phew.  _ He was dressed.

He dragged his shirt over his head and turned, pasting a smile on. “Not a chance.  _ You’re  _ the one who’s going to eat shit. When I  _ smoke  _ you.”

“You’re going to smoke shit?”

“No! I’m— You’re—” He scowled. Leave it to Sasuke to kill his flush. “Forget it.”

Sasuke pushed past him. Naruto fell into step, glaring at his back. Stupid Sasuke with his broad shoulders and his big mouth. 

So sure, high school was full of nightmares. But it was also, amazingly enough, full of opportunities. 

Like  _ dances. _

Naruto wasn’t one for dancing. He had two left feet; he wasn’t afraid to admit it. But it was the  _ principle— _ the idea of going, all dressed in a suit and holding Sasuke’s hand—that made him want to backflip. 

Not that he would ever ask him. 

* * *

The weather was changing again.

Naruto lifted his head to listen. The windowpanes rattled insistently against beating winds; their low hum echoed over the classroom, blending with the heater’s whir and Ebisu-sensei’s droning. Naruto propped his head on his chin and watched the trees outside thrash. It would be a cold walk home after school.

“ _ Psst! Naruto!”  _

His eyes flicked from the window. Choji’s hands waved frantically from the next row over, eyes bright. He had a tiny paper crane folded on his desk.

_ What?  _ Naruto mouthed. 

_ Note,  _ Choji responded. He paused, checking to make sure Ebisu-sensei was still facing the board, and flicked the crane backwards. His eyebrows wiggled brightly.

_ Heard u and Sak were going to the dance _

Naruto exhaled loudly. What a joke  _ that  _ was. It would’ve been easier if she was the one he wanted to take. It would’ve been simple to ask her.

_ You still could,  _ the tiny, reasonable part of his brain pointed out. Naruto ignored it. He knew what he wanted and he wasn’t going to settle for anything less.

But Choji didn’t know that. Nobody did.

_ No,  _ he scrawled back.  _ U take her.  _ He refolded the crane and flicked it back, almost hitting Choji in the eye for his efforts. His response was immediate.

_ Changed ur mind? Who is it? _

Naruto’s hands tensed around the note. He paused, chewing his eraser, and scribbled a short reply.  _ Don’t worry about it. _

Choji’s eyebrows flew towards his hairline. They both knew it wasn’t like Naruto to clam up—which meant that it had to be  _ big.  _

Naruto could feel the butterflies in his stomach beginning to stir again. If Choji pressed him for answers then he’d feel like he  _ had  _ to tell him. They’d been friends for so long; it was only fair. Still, the anxiety at writing his admittance—six letters, lines he could recognize with his eyes closed—made him feel sick.

Naruto, used to sharing, wanted to hold this close. Just for now.

He was saved from Choji’s interrogation by the bell. Gathering his things, Naruto pushed alongside his classmates out into the open hall. The clouds above brewed dark and thick; the wind cut his thoughts neatly away. Thunder rumbled somewhere far in the distance. 

“Notebook,” he mumbled under his breath. His locker burned cold under his fingertips as he fought it open. “Math notes, chapter seven, science worksheet—”

“Naruto.”

_ Ah.  _ He paused, hands stilling over the lock. His heart tripped into double-time.  _ It’s just Sasuke,  _ he told himself. He licked his lips.

“Hey, Sasuke. What’s up?”

One eyebrow raised. “It’s time to go home,” he said, like Naruto had forgotten. “Hurry up. It’s going to rain any minute.”

“Yeah, yeah. I was just done.” He slammed the door shut with his hip. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“Then don’t take eighty years, dead-last,” Sasuke retorted. 

They speed-walked past the entrance gates into the street. Students clamored for cars around them, clogging the sidewalk with frantic laughter and movements. Sasuke dodged them all effortlessly, backpack swinging behind him like a pendulum. Naruto watched the tomato keychain’s movement with every step.  _ Right, left. Right, left. _

“Hey, idiot.” Sasuke looked back at him. “Pick up the pace, would you?” As if to punctuate his words, thunder boomed overhead again. 

“Afraid of a little rain?” Naruto teased. They crossed a block. “Worried it’s gonna mess up your hair? The day’s over, pretty boy.”

Sasuke flushed, jerking to face forward again. “Fuck you.”

The wind steadily picked up over the next couple blocks. Soon, Naruto could barely keep his eyes open. Branches overhead shuddered under the strain, scattering leaves down onto them. The air took on a decidedly electric tang.

_ Boom. _

“Oh, for fuck’s—”

The sky opened up.

“Shit!” Naruto laughed. He tipped his head back, craning his neck. Rain splattered over red cheeks. “Here it comes!”

Fat, cold droplets splashed over the sidewalk. Tree boughs swung with the sudden weight; the sidewalks darkened in streaks, inking under moisture. A car passed, scattering water everywhere. 

“Naruto!” Sasuke yelled. He was soaked from head to toe, pink from the numbing wind. “You bastard!” Naruto laughed even louder.

They took off into a run. Asphalt crunched wetly under their sneakers like cereal, scattering away with every step. Naruto could hardly see through the rain. Sasuke blurred into a blob ahead of him, his breaths clouding and trailing into Naruto’s face.

And then, the park came into sight.

“There!” Naruto shouted. He steered right, jaywalking to reach the grass on the other side. “Come on!”

They barreled into the playground structure. The monkey bars dripped water, but the slide—ugly, sun-faded yellow, even against the grey afternoon—looked dry. Naruto hoisted himself up onto the bottom and crawled inside.

It only took a second for Sasuke to follow. They huddled up as far as they could, wedging themselves onto the incline. The plastic pinched around Naruto’s shoulders uncomfortably, but he ignored it. Their breaths were so  _ loud.  _

“You jerk,” Sasuke panted. In the half-light, his hair was like fresh ink. Naruto watched, transfixed, as his fingers combed a swathe back onto his forehead. “I don’t have a fucking  _ hood. _ ”

“Shoulda thought of that earlier,” Naruto retorted. Sasuke flipped him off.

They stared out at the rain. The foot of the slide was beginning to pool with moisture. A car raced by, brake-lights gleaming through the grey. 

Slowly, Naruto’s eyes trailed back to his best friend. A water droplet hung suspended on one of his eyelashes. Another gleamed at the ridge of his cheekbone, sparkling on pale skin. Naruto wanted to brush it away.

His heart squeezed painfully. From this close he could smell Sasuke’s deodorant, cinnamon and burning wood. When he breathed in deep, the heat of it made his throat dry. Sasuke’s lips were pale from the cold, but he smelled  _ warm.  _

Naruto ached to reach out and see if he was.

And then, as if sensing his thoughts, Sasuke turned. Their eyes met. Sasuke’s lips parted.

_ Does he know?  _ Naruto wondered. He saw recognition in that face. Dark eyes, sharp with acuity, swallowing every detail like a black hole. He felt over-analyzed and under-prepared all of a sudden. Heat bloomed at his neck.

_ Does he have any idea? _

Naruto thought of P.E. and sharing lunches. He thought of afternoons in the treehouse even when they were too big to fit. He thought of how sometimes he caught Sasuke looking at him when he thought Naruto wouldn’t notice.

The same way he’d caught Naruto just now.

He held his breath. Sasuke’s chest was still, his eyes unblinking. They looked and looked.

“Hey,” Naruto breathed. He could feel his flush crawling up his neck to bloom across his cheeks. “Uh.”

“Hi,” Sasuke said quietly.

Their breaths mingled. Naruto leaned forward, eyes stuck on Sasuke’s face. The sheen of rain made him practically glow. 

This close, he could see every flicker of movement. He watched Sasuke’s eyelashes flutter as he searched his face. His lips tingled. 

“You..” 

Sasuke stilled. “Yes?”

Naruto froze. They were close. He could see his own reflection. His heart leapt in his throat.

_ Do something,  _ his brain screamed.  _ Come on. _

Naruto sucked in a deep breath. His mouth was dry. His hands curled over the slide’s plastic, knuckles catching on a bolt. He felt like he was going to explode.

He tore his gaze away. “The rain’s stopped.”

_ Stupid! What are you doing?  _ Now the voice sounded more like Sakura’s. Naruto cringed, pushing his way out past Sasuke. He didn’t miss the way Sasuke didn’t move for him—the way their shoulders rubbed, wet on wet.

He really was as warm as Naruto had hoped.

“We should get going,” he muttered. The air churned in his lungs, electric and earth and bitter panic.  _ Stupid, stupid.  _ His hands trembled; he crammed them into his pockets, sucking in a deep breath. “Itachi’s gonna wonder if you died or something.”

“Yeah.” Sasuke shoved past him. His face was an empty mask. “Fine.”

They walked the rest of the way, restless and hurried. Naruto tried not to think of how warm he’d felt, tucked into that space, and how now he was cold inside and out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/)


	15. Beneath the Willows

Something about this situation was eerily familiar.

Naruto slid into the desk next to Sakura’s. Their single shared class—math, Naruto’s personal nemesis—happened right after lunch, and their teacher had been kind enough to allow them lunch inside. Rain splattered from the gutter audibly even with the classroom door shut; Naruto shuddered, shedding his wet coat, and settled down to eat.

“Something’s wrong again,” Sakura said. It wasn’t even a question. She eyed him warily with a spoonful of applesauce tucked in her cheek, her skirt smoothed over thick leggings to keep out the cold. “What did you  _ do?” _

“Nothing!” Naruto’s eyes flit to their teacher. “Really,” he repeated softly. “I didn’t do anything.”

Sakura gave him a dry look. “Really,” she said. “Then Sasuke just  _ happens  _ to have bees shoved up his butt?”

Naruto winced. It wasn’t like he’d  _ intended  _ to have everything go to shit (again); it was more he hadn’t expected the random flying shit to hit him. 

Flying shit. Now there was a terrifying thought.

“Okay,” he amended. “So maybe I fucked up a  _ little.” _

Sakura’s eyes narrowed. Her spoon clattered onto the desk as she leaned in, suddenly all too close to Naruto’s face.  _ “What did you do?” _

More like what  _ didn’t  _ he do. Naruto was pretty sure of what he’d  _ wanted  _ to do, but that wasn’t accounting for the fear, or the fact that he’d been crushing for  _ years,  _ or that Sasuke wasn’t interested.

_ Or was he?  _ Naruto had no idea anymore. When did everything get so complicated?

In halting, frantic words, Naruto illustrated the afternoon before.

Sakura promptly put her face in her hands. “You’re kidding,” she groaned. “You two are  _ hopeless.” _

“Hey!” 

“Well, you know what you have to do now, right?” She glared at him.  _ “Fix  _ it. If I have to go another day with Sasuke trying to rip my head off in second period I’m going to personally kick your ass.”

“You say that like you don’t already find excuses to—” He bit his lip, swallowing at her raised fist. “Okay, okay, geez. How, though?”

“How do you normally fix it?”

He frowned. How  _ did  _ he fix these kind of things? 

“I guess I just bug him until he starts talking to me again,” he admitted. “Is that bad?”

Sakura put her face in her hands.

* * *

Naruto liked to think he wasn’t chickenshit. Actually, he was pretty sure he wasn’t  _ any  _ kind of shit, except maybe the cool kind. Or was it the hot kind? 

Anyway. Naruto was known for his bravery. He was the one who always chose  _ dare  _ during a sleepover, the guy jumping rooftops before Iruka yelled at him and grounded him for three days. He was the guy who once drank a whole cup of hot sauce, just cause Kiba said he couldn’t!

But something like this—years of buildup, the reality of having to  _ actually admit to Sasuke’s face  _ something he hadn’t told more than three people in his whole life—terrified Naruto like no other. How the hell was he supposed to own up to this?

Sasuke definitely wasn’t making it easy on him. The guy wouldn’t slow down long enough for Naruto to get in his way; the second he saw him, Sasuke would shoot off in the opposite direction. It didn’t even matter that they shared P.E. It was like Naruto didn’t even exist.

“Whatever you did, you fucked up  _ bad,”  _ Kiba remarked several days later. Shikamaru nodded gravely. “What did you even do?”

Naruto hunched over his sandwich. “Nothing!” He could tell they didn’t believe him.

Sasuke didn’t even sit with them at lunch anymore. Where he was Naruto had no idea, but he’d hardly seen hide nor tail of the guy. How was Naruto supposed to fix anything like this?

What was he even planning on  _ doing? _

“I really messed up,” he admitted that night. Iruka paused with a forkful of ravioli halfway to his mouth. “Like,  _ really  _ badly. I’m pretty sure Sasuke doesn’t want to be friends anymore.”

His eyebrows creased. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because! We haven’t talked in almost a week, and he won’t even  _ look  _ at me, and I know it’s my fault but I don’t know how to fix it!” Naruto stabbed his pasta furiously. “If he would just—just let this blow over, then I wouldn’t have to do anything.”

“Naruto,” Iruka murmured. “You know that’s not how you fix something.”

“I know. But it would be  _ easier  _ that way.” He put his head in his hands. His heart felt like it was going to pop right out of his chest; he ached like he never had before, a perpetual throbbing right under his ribs. He looked at that bedroom window every night and  _ wished.  _

But wishing wouldn’t fix anything any more than ignoring the rift between them. What was Naruto to do?

“Is it something an apology can’t fix?” Iruka asked. Naruto shrugged halfheartedly. “So you haven’t tried.”

“He won’t let me get close enough to!”

“Then  _ make an effort,”  _ his father said firmly. “The longer you sit on this, the worse things will become. You have to be honest, Naruto.” His eyes softened. “Isn’t that what you’re best at, anyhow?”

“Yeah.” He sank down into his seat. God, he was so  _ tired.  _ “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Be honest with him,” Iruka suggested. “Explain your side of the situation, and offer him a chance to speak his. I don’t know what’s gotten between you, but the least you can do is that.”

Naruto’s fingers curled in his lap. The idea of talking to Sasuke honestly about  _ everything _ —years of everything—made his stomach flip frantically. But he would do it. He would do anything for Sasuke.

After all, weren’t they best friends?

* * *

In the end, nothing happened the way it was supposed to.

Naruto was running late. He’d meant to be home a whole half hour before; Iruka had gotten a raise, so they were supposed to have dinner out for once. A special father-son occasion, his dad called it. 

Iruka was going to  _ kill  _ him.

Concrete thrummed beneath his sneakers. Naruto pressed forward, skipping over sidewalk curbs, dodging cars turning corners as they blared their horns. He’d dressed in his favorite orange sweatshirt to keep out the cold, but now sweat was building uncomfortably along his spine. He could feel the armpits of his shirt sticking with every movement and it  _ sucked. _

_ There.  _ The Hidden Leaves neighborhood gates stood stark against bare trees.  _ Home clear. _

Naruto darted through. Up the sidewalks he raced, whizzing around parked cars and mailboxes. All he had to do was run by a few more houses and— 

He jerked to a stop.

_ Oh no. Oh no, no, no.  _ This was  _ not  _ how he wanted to finish his Friday. His week had been shitty enough, and he was already due for a healthy dose of Iruka’s Angry Voice, and he was sure he looked absolutely  _ disgusting  _ all sweaty and red, but— 

But there was Sasuke stepping out to check the mail. He must’ve gotten home just a few minutes before, because he was still pink-cheeked and tousled from walking home. He was wearing his favorite slippers, the old beat-up tomato ones that Naruto had jokingly bought him, and Naruto’s mouth was going absolutely bone-dry because he’d  _ not  _ planned for this.

It’d been almost two weeks since The Slide Incident. Naruto hadn’t seen more than five minutes of Sasuke since then; the sight of him now, normal as can be, made every bone in his body ache. His heart was practically beating in his mouth.

_ He’s perfect,  _ Naruto thought weakly, and then:  _ I miss him so  _ bad.

Sasuke chose that moment to look up. Their gazes met—blue against black, separated by the same stretch of sidewalk that had first brought them together. 

And then Sasuke turned to go back inside.

_ “Wait!”  _ Naruto hollered. He didn’t know what he was doing—he wasn’t even  _ thinking.  _ He ran up the sidewalk, ignoring his burning calves. “Sasuke,  _ please.  _ I can explain!”

Sasuke stopped on the lawn. He didn’t look back, but a spark of hope lit in Naruto’s chest anyway. He jogged to a stop at the edge of the grass and bent over, panting.

“Sasuke,” he breathed. “I think there’s been a- a mistake.”

Sasuke didn’t move. “A mistake?” he echoed dangerously. “Is that what it was?”

Naruto straightened, squinting. “I.. yes. It was a mistake. And I’m sorry that I made you uncomfortable, and upset, and I want to take it all back.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I want us to just be friends again. If you’ll let me.”

“Just friends.” Sasuke turned. Naruto flinched at the dark look in his eyes. “You want us to just be  _ friends?” _

Naruto flushed angrily. “What else is there?” he demanded. “It’s been you and me for  _ years.  _ Why does it have to change now, just because—” He paused, swallowing. Everything was coming out  _ wrong.  _ This wasn’t what he’d wanted to say! “Sasuke,” he pleaded. “Sasuke, please.”

“Just because?” Sasuke echoed. He stepped forward. The newspaper in his fist crinkled dangerously, but his gaze was intent. “Just because _ what?” _

All of the air  _ whooshed  _ out of Naruto’s lungs. Tears sprung to his eyes helplessly, prickling and burning; he swallowed, feeling a lump rise in his throat.

He was so  _ tired.  _ He had hoped everything would go away, but it hadn’t, and he was so tired of  _ holding everything in.  _ He felt like he was going to burst at the seams. He was tired of always looking and making himself look away; he was tired of wishing every night and then telling himself it wasn’t going to come true. Because how could Sasuke ever see him the way Naruto wanted him to? 

_ You have to be honest, Naruto. _

He was tired of living like this. He swallowed, feeling the first, hot slide of tears down his cheeks.

“Because,” he whispered, “I’m in love with you.”

Sasuke stared. Naruto didn’t dare meet his eyes. He stared up at the leaves above them, willing Sasuke to let him down easily. God, he just wanted to go  _ home. _

“I’m sorry,” he managed. He laughed, a horrible, wet sound he didn’t mean. “I thought I could make it stop, but then it didn’t, and I feel like the biggest dumbass—”

“Naruto.”

“—because I didn’t want anything to change and then I  _ fucked it all up—” _

“Naruto!”

Naruto’s jaw clicked shut. He swallowed. “What?”

“Look at me,” Sasuke said. 

Naruto looked down. When had Sasuke gotten so close? Naruto could practically see the willow’s reflection in his eyes—eyes just as dark and captivating as that first day.

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke said, and then he kissed him.

Kissing Sasuke was nothing like Naruto had dreamt. For one, neither of them were very good at it. Sasuke’s mouth was too firm, his lips pressing hard onto Naruto’s, and Naruto kind of wanted to laugh and cry and throw up all at once.

But then he relaxed, and Sasuke relaxed, and suddenly things were soft and right. Naruto shuffled closer, fingers blindly wrapping around Sasuke’s wrist. He was so warm. He smelled so  _ good.  _

Something fell into the grass between them. Thunder boomed somewhere nearby. Naruto’s heart was pounding like crazy. 

All too soon—or maybe after a hundred years, Naruto had no idea—Sasuke pulled away. His lips were a little swollen and just as pink as his cheeks. Naruto wanted to kiss him again. 

“That’s payback,” he said, “for not kissing me in the slide.”

“Oh my god,” Naruto whispered. “Is this real?”

Sasuke laughed. The sound of it, low and a little raspy, made every heartstring in Naruto’s chest feel like it was going to snap. “I hope so,” he said. 

“Me too,” Naruto admitted. He flushed even darker. “Can I..” Was this  _ real? _ “..Can I kiss you again?”

Sasuke smiled.

The second kiss was even better than the first. 

The third was better than the second.

And so on with the fourth, the fifth,  _ the sixth, _ until rain was falling, splattering on them and soaking them through, and Naruto had lost all sense of counting, of feeling anything but  _ this,  _ because he had everything he’d ever ached for right there in his arms. 

Right there, beneath the willows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it what you hoped for? (: just one chapter left!
> 
> drop me an ask on [tumblr](https://poetatertot.tumblr.com/) or take a look at my new sns supernatural AU, [The Sixth Sense!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352657/chapters/50859229)


	16. Epilogue & Explanations

There existed, in their friendship, a myriad of things that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. 

The neighborhood held the willow they’d met beneath, the pool their friendship flourished within, the concrete upon which they spilled hose-water and chalk and popsicles. The gap between their homes was smaller—a white picket fence, a hedge smattered with soft blue buds—and the gap between their hearts smaller still. The tree connecting their windows paled in comparison to the brush of their fingers; the step of their soles, synchronous, could only echo the perfect mirror of their heartbeats.

Steady, constant, steady, connected.

Shared jackets and kissed bruises, stolen shirts and crushed bones. There was the roof he broke an ankle on and the cast he signed over and over in hopes of healing faster. There was the slick sweat of their shared race to the corner and back. Races, rushes—inside and out they matched, mirrors in exact.

Did they fight? They battled like they breathed, an effortless spar of heated muscles and harsh vocal chords. They knew who could swim faster (he) and who could eat more (him). They knew the champion of box-stacking, of singing off-key, of scaring and scarring. They lost and won in twin fell blows from the same sword.

They were, in the scheme of things, small. And yet, pressed between hydrangeas and pinned beneath willows, they were the kings of their court, of summers and sweat.   
  


They were soulmates. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. I know it's been a hot second since I've updated (since I've written anything, unfortunately) but I couldn't let this work sit endlessly unfinished. Although this isn't the end I originally intended, I thought it was important to give some closure to our boys beyond what's been done. 
> 
> I tried to write the epilogue.. _so_ many times. I was never happy with it enough to publish. The best I can give you is the passage that started it all: a dedication to two boys who stumbled upon a lifetime of love beneath a waving willow.
> 
> As for The Sixth Sense: the next chapter is all written, and the one after that halfway done. One of my resolutions for this year is to finish what I've started - expect an update (or two) this month!
> 
> Thank you all for being so kind and welcoming for my first attempt at SNS! Happy 2020 everyone!


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